The TAIEX yesterday surged above 11,500 points as market sentiment was boosted by hopes that the US and China would sign a trade deal, dealers said.
Buying focused on the bellwether electronics sector, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major supplier to Apple Inc, amid optimism about its leadership in new technology development, they said.
Other large-cap technology stocks in the Apple supply chain, in particular iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also attracted bargain hunting on the back of better-than-expected sales of the new iPhone 11 series, which helped push up the broader market, they added.
Amid optimism over lessening trade tensions between the US and China, the TAIEX soared past the 11,500 technical resistance point, with TSMC and other technology heavyweights making a strong showing, while large-cap old economy stocks also helped drive the gains, dealers said.
At the close of the trading, the TAIEX was up 157.32 points, or 1.38 percent, at 11,556.85.
Turnover totaled NT$156.604 billion (US$5.15 billion) during the trading session.
Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$14.69 billion of shares on the main board yesterday compared with NT$8.28 billion the previous session, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
TSMC was one of the shares to benefit from the high liquidity, with the strong buying also reflecting optimism about the company’s bottom line based on its lead in the development of new techonologies, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang said.
TSMC shares rose 2.68 percent to close at NT$307, with 44.68 million shares changing hands, and the its market capitalization hit a new record of NT$7.96 trillion.
TSMC shares contributed about 80 points to the TAIEX, pushing up the electronics and semiconductor sub-indices by 1.82 percent and 2.14 percent respectively, exchange data showed.
Buying also focused on select technology shares with relatively low valuations, with Hon Hai shares soaring 4.95 percent to close at NT$89, while smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co’s (大立光) shares rose 2.47 percent to NT$4,570 and metal casing producer Catcher Technology Co’s (可成科技) shares gained 6.23 percent to NT$281.5, Huang said.
“With today’s solid upturn, the local main board has become technically healthier, so the TAIEX could soon challenge the next technical resistance point at about 11,800,” Huang said.
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