Stocks finally broke the 7,000-point barrier to close at their highest level in three-and-a-half-years yesterday, climbing on hopes of an improving economic situation no matter who wins the March 20 presidential election, analysts said.
The TAIEX surged 101.93 points, or 1.47 percent, to 7,034.10, led by gains in financial, electronics and flat-panel stocks as well as domestic-demand related shares such as the raw materials sector.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Shares of Formosa Petrochemical Corp wowed the local bourse by sprinting NT$3, or 5.5 percent, to NT$57.5. Nan Ya Plastics Corp, the nation's biggest maker of plastics, also gained NT$1.5, or 3.3 percent, to NT$47.5.
Flat panel display maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd added 2.7 percent to NT$22.7, Quanta Display Inc rose 2.9 percent to NT$25 and AU Optronics Corp edged 0.8 percent higher to NT$60.
The turnover yesterday was NT$226.55 billion, a slight decrease from NT$239.9 billion the previous day. Foreign investors yesterday pumped NT$10.8 billion into local bourses, compared to a record NT$19.4 billion on Tuesday, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.
Jones Wang (
As the TAIEX has rocketed up by 1,144 points, or 20 percent, since trading started on Jan. 27 after the Lunar New Year holidays, some investors are worried that the market may be overheating.
But Wang said the market's recent rise is in line with his expectations, adding that the turnover -- which has consecutively hit above NT$200 billion for the last four days -- was not a concern.
"We should begin to worry [about possible overheating] if the turnover hits NT$260 billion," he said.
Another analyst believes the red-hot market will continue for at least two or three years.
"I believe the TAIEX will roar at full thrust to 10,000 points in the next two years," said Lu Tsung-yao (呂宗耀), former investment director for the Ta Chong Finance Group, at a press conference yesterday.
"I didn't see any factors that will reverse the rising curve of the TAIEX," he said.
Like many market experts, Lu said that the coming presidential election will only depress the market for a short period. The biggest concern hinges on whther or not US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan decides to raise US interest rates, he said.
Aside from interest-rate concerns, Lu said there will be a large-scale circulation of funds as the US dollar continues to depreciate against the euro, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen, which will help induce more foreign cash into the market.
Hsieh Chin-ho (
China Steel Corp yesterday lost 0.3 percent to close at NT$34.7 on a disappointing earnings report for last month.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RSS