The TAIEX rebounded yesterday, gaining 2.44 percent to close at 10,045.81 points after slumping 6.3 percent on Thursday, its worst one-day slide since January 2008.
The weighted index opened 5.47 points higher at 9,811.58 points, but retreated to 9,742.34 points after seven minutes of trading, lower than its close of 9,806.11 on Thursday.
However, it gradually gained ground as sentiment improved, moving past 10,000 points and closing 239.7 points higher on turnover of NT$143.53 billion (US$4.64 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Except for glass and electric appliances, all sub-indices advanced, the data showed.
The rebound was led by smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光), which erased Wednesday’s losses by advancing 9.89 percent to NT$3,555, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電, TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which closed 4.18 percent higher at NT$231.
The local market rose as the across-the-board selloffs ended in Asia, with South Korea and Hong Kong gaining 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent respectively, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 percent and Shanghai climbed 0.9 percent, even though US markets continued their steep declines on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 545 points after plunging 831 points on Wednesday.
However, the scale of the decline in the Dow shrank, Xincheng International Investment Consultant (信誠環球投顧) analyst Chang Chih-cheng (張志誠) said.
Citing the fall in the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasuries to 3.14 percent, Chang said that global investor anxiety seemed to have eased after official figures showed that US consumer prices for last month rose at a slower-than-expected pace.
However, judging from the fact that foreign institutional investors still sold a net NT$4.09 billion in local shares, the market’s recovery likely stemmed in part from bargain-hunting by government-run funds to lend support to the market, Chang said.
Although the government on Thursday evening decided not to activate the National Stabilization Fund for the time being, its announcement that the fund committee would hold a special meeting whenever necessary to deal with changes in the market helped lift sentiment, Hua Nan Securities Investment Management Co (華南投顧) chairman David Chu (儲祥生) said.
“However, it is hard to say that Taiwanese shares have regained a firm foothold,” Chu said.
Investors should keep a close watch on the performance of US markets and TSMC’s investors’ conference on Thursday next week to gain an insight into the nation’s economic outlook in the fourth quarter, he said.
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