Taiwan's key stock index rose for the first day in four, led by United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) after the company's Japanese venture received its first major order for silicon wafers used to make semiconductors.
The TWSE Index rose 101.30, or 1.9 percent, to 5,405.54, its biggest one-day percentage gain since April 11. Four stocks rose for every one that fell. The total value of trade today was NT$58.6 billion (US$1.8 billion), the eighth successive day the total value of trade was under the year-to-date average of NT$84.9 billion.
"We were buying yesterday. We're not so pessimistic," said Cheng Yi-sheng, who helps manage NT$1.6 billion (US$49 million) in Taiwan stocks at Taiwan Securities Ltd (台証證券). "I don't think the index will go below 5,000. We're pretty near the bottom considering the economic situation in the US is expected to improve in the second quarter."
UMC rose NT$1, or 1.9 percent, to NT$54. Trecenti Technologies, the world's first dedicated 300mm silicon wafer factory, said it delivered its first major order to Xilinx Inc, the largest maker of programmable semiconductors.
Banks rose after the TWSE Bank/Insurance Index fell yesterday to the lowest level this year at 771.21, prompting some investors to buy bank stocks in anticipation they may gain over the next few days.
China Development Industrial Bank (中華開發工銀), Taiwan's biggest bank by market value, rose NT$1, or 3.6 percent, to NT$28.90. First Commercial Bank (第一商銀), the sixth-biggest bank, rose 80 cents, or 4.2 percent, to NT$19.90. United World Chinese Commercial Bank (世華聯合商銀), the third-biggest bank, rose 10 cents, or 0.4 percent, to NT$24.
Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) rose NT$3.50, or 6.5 percent, to NT$57. Advanced Micro Devices Inc's Chief Executive W.J. Sanders III told a Merrill Lynch & Co computer-hardware conference in New York that he sees the decline in personal-computer demand ending. Compal makes notebook computers.
Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀) rose 40 cents, or 1.7 percent, to NT$23.40. Taiwan's second-largest bank by market value said yesterday it will pay NT$11.0 billion (US$335 million) in stock for a US bank owned by its chairman Jeffrey Koo, Sr
(辜濂松). Chinatrust will swap 479 million of its shares at a par value of NT$10 each -- a 57 percent discount to the stock's current price of NT$23 a share -- for Koo's controlling stake in California-based Chinatrust Bank (USA) Inc. Chinatrust Bank has a net asset value of US$139 million.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd (鴻海精密) rose NT$4, or 2.1 percent, to NT$195. Credit Suisse First Boston Inc analyst Kirk Yang expects the electronics components maker's 2001 profit to rise 35 percent to NT$14.1 billion as it gains market share.
Ritek Corp (錸德) fell NT$0.50, or 0.8 percent, to NT$66. The largest recordable disc maker said last week its first-quarter profit fell 74 percent to NT$643 million.
Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統科技) rose NT$3.50, or 6.8 percent, to NT$55. The chipset designer and maker expects second-quarter sales to rise 67 percent to NT$3 billion compared to the same period last year, as more motherboard companies such as Gigabyte Technology Ltd (技嘉科技) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) buy more integrated chipsets -- with audio, graphic and network functions included -- or stand-alone chipsets.
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