The TAIEX yesterday moved sharply higher to close above 10,300 points as a strong showing on US markets overnight sparked buying, dealers said.
The bellwether electronics sector helped drive the local bourse, with “Apple concept stocks” attracting strong buying after Monday’s gains by shares of Apple Inc, which offset the losses suffered by Boeing Co shares, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 93.05 points, or 0.91 percent, at 10,343.33, after moving between 10,294.37 and 10,382.12. Turnover totaled NT$109.871 billion (US$3.56 billion) during the session.
The market opened up 0.43 percent in a knee-jerk reaction to the gains on US markets, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 200 points, or 0.79 percent, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ jumped 2.02 percent, dealers said.
Buying helped push the TAIEX past 10,300 points, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), a supplier of processors for iPhones.
The electronics sector rose more than 1.08 percent by the end of the session as investors were encouraged by the strong gains of tech stocks in the US market, they said.
Concerns over a slower pace of global economic growth are expected to continue to affect market sentiment, while volatility is still possible on US markets, despite their strong showing on Monday.
Shares of Largan Precision Co (大立光), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple, rose 2.9 percent to close at NT$4,620.
Shares of iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) added 1.14 percent to close at NT$71.2.
Bucking the upturn on the broader market, shares of Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), a power management solution provider, fell 5.26 percent to close at NT$144.
Buying was also seen in the old economy sector, with Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) shares rising 1.46 percent to close at NT$104.5 and Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀) shares gaining 1.51 percent to close at NT$30.3.
Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$3.08 billion of shares on the main board, after a net sell-off of NT$10.36 billion the previous day, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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