The TAIEX jumped 86.83 points yesterday to close at 6,975.26, an increase of 1.3 percent and its highest close in four years, boosted by overseas investors who pumped in a record NT$19.4 billion.
The gain was led by semiconductor makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp and United Microelectronics Corp, which gained 3.9 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.
"I think the TAIEX will definitely top 7,000 tomorrow [Wednesday]," said Peter Hsieh (謝杰良), manager of Polaris-Protime Securities Consultant.
"Foreign cash, rather than the presidential election, has apparently become the major influence on the stock market," he said.
Foreign investors have been accelerating their investment in the market as local industries pick up in line with the continuing recovery of global economy, Hsieh said.
The recent appreciation of New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar has also helped lure overseas investors, drawing money out of other Asian markets to Taiwan, he said.
As of yesterday, overseas investors have bought a total of NT$126.05 billion in stocks on the TAIEX this year, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.
In contrast, local investors appear more conservative, with many planning to hold onto their money until after the election, he said.
Against this backdrop, Hsieh predicted the TAIEX will surge to as high as 7,200 points before the election and continue to rise to 7,400 over the next six months.
Stanley Yeh (
However, he thinks political factors are still likely to cool down the market in the short term after the election and political uncertainties could keep investors on the sidelines.
But if the global index compiler Morgan Stanley Capital International decides to upgrade Taiwan to developed market status in its global equity indexes after the election, there will be more foreign capital flowing into the market, Yeh said.
"As a whole, I think investors can expect a bumper year," he said.
Both Hsieh and Yeh are upbeat about finance, electronics and raw material stocks.
Finance stocks should hit their stride as banks clear their bad loans amid a wave of consolidation in the sector, which is expected to enhance cost-effectiveness, Hsieh said.
Semiconductors and flat-panel makers will continue to drive the market as demand for the both product rises worldwide, they said.
AU Optronics Corp and four other local makers of liquid-crystal displays (LCD) will account for 49 percent of global spending on LCD-making this year, overtaking South Korea as the world's largest LCD supplier, researcher DisplaySearch said last week.
Raw material stocks have bounced back to the list of blue chips, owing to the shortage of building materials such as steel and gravel, Yeh said.
China Steel Corp shares, for example, have risen 20 percent from NT$29 per share last month to NT$34.9 yesterday. Last week the company raised steel product prices by an average of 20 percent.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique