Local shares yesterday closed higher, with buying focused on the local IC sector as investors took cues from a rally staged by US semiconductor stocks overnight, dealers said.
The gains posted by the Taiwan Stock Exchange also reflected reduced concern over a trade war between the US and China after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said Beijing would come up with market-opening measures that are being perceived as a conciliatory move to reduce tensions between the two economic giants, the dealers said.
The main board came off its early high and failed to stand above the 11,000-point mark at the end of the session due to stiff technical resistance ahead of that level, they added.
The TAIEX closed up 46.84 points, or 0.43 percent, at 10,974.02, after moving between 10,953.31 and 11,016.35 on turnover of NT$128.85 billion (US$4.41 billion).
The market opened up 0.31 percent and rose further to briefly breach 11,000 points as buying was sparked by a strong Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.79 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ ended up 2.07 percent as market sentiment was boosted by Xi’s remarks, the dealers said.
The local semiconductor sector in particular attracted strong buying to lead the broader market higher, as investors were moved by a 3.02 percent increase posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, but some profit-taking set in to cap the upturn by the end of the session, they said.
“Wall Street, again, dictated the mood of investors in Taiwan after Xi’s comments, but it seems the willingness to chase share prices was limited, as many investors preferred to stay on the sidelines, watching how the two largest economies will eventually solve their problems,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.
“Turnover remained moderate, making it difficult for the TAIEX to jump over the technical hurdles ahead of the 11,000-point mark,” Huang said.
Gains by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, pushed the local semiconductor subindex up 0.81 percent to support the broader market, Huang said.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, rose 1.02 percent to close at NT$248 after hitting NT$248.50, with 21.58 million shares changing hands, after the company on Tuesday reported that its sales last month hit the highest monthly level in its history.
Also in the semiconductor sector, United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), TSMC’s smaller rival, added 0.65 percent to close at NT$15.40, off an early high of NT$15.60, and IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) gained 3.67 percent to close at NT$339, off a high of NT$343.
Bucking the upturn, Largan Precision Co (大立光), a smartphone camera lens supplier to Apple Inc, fell 0.62 percent to end at NT$3,230 after hitting NT$3,350.
In the financial sector, which closed up 0.37 percent to lend additional support to the TAIEX, E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) rose 1.01 percent to end at NT$20 and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) gained 0.57 percent to close at NT$53.30.
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