TAIEX sees best week for 12 years

Taiwan stocks rallied, sending the TAIEX to its biggest weekly gain in more than a decade, on optimism demand for the island's electronics exports will recover faster than expected.

Electronics companies such as Via Technologies Inc (威盛電子) were responsible for almost half of the index's gains after Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the two biggest makers of personal-computer processors, raised their sales targets.

"That's very good news," said Leo Sheng, who manages NT$400 million at Shinkong Investment Trust Co (新光投信).

"Taiwan's world competitiveness in its semiconductor industry stands it in very good stead to reap the benefits as demand revives."

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) climbed to a 10-month high on a report the nation's biggest notebook computer maker received an order from Apple Computer Inc. for iMac desktop computers.

The TAIEX added 125.07, or 2.4 percent, to 5,333.93. For the week, it jumped 20 percent, its biggest weekly advance since June 2, 1990, when President George W. Bush's father was the US leader. Five of the 10 most active stocks by value surged by their daily limit.

Foreign investors bought NT$6.3 billion more stocks in Taiwan than they sold yesterday. Within the index, 398 stocks rose and 114 fell. The total value of trade was NT$183 billion, the highest since April 14, 2000, and more than three times the six-month daily average of NT$56.3 billion.

Quanta rose NT$4, or 4.4 percent, to NT$96. Taiwan's largest notebook computer maker received an order to make more than 1 million iMac desktop computers next year for Apple Computer Inc.

Memory chipmakers gained on optimism rising personal computer sales will boost demand for the memory chips used inside them. The price of an 128-megabit dynamic random access memory chip rose 3.9 percent to US$1.59 yesterday, according to DRAM Exchange, a market place for trading memory chips.

Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), Taiwan's biggest computer-memory-chip maker by market value, rose NT$1.10, or 6.5 percent, to NT$18.10. Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the second biggest, rose NT$1.50, or 6.7 percent, to NT$23.90. Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), the third biggest, rose NT$0.70, or 6.7 percent, to NT$11.15.

First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) rose NT$1.30, or 6.8 percent, to NT$20.50. Taiwan's fourth-largest publicly traded bank by market value is interested in buying a stake in First Sino Bank of Shanghai, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said, citing an official at a rival lender. First Commercial and First Sino denied the report.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which makes everything in a computer except the chips, fell NT$3, or 1.8 percent, to NT$165 after reports said Quanta will make iMacs for Apple. Hon Hai had previously made the iMac, analysts said.

Via rose NT$9, or 6.7 percent, to NT$143 after a federal judge decided it didn't infringe on one Intel Corp patent concerning a chipset supporting Advanced Micro Devices Inc's processor. The latest ruling leaves one more patent quarrel in this case.

Yageo Corp (國巨) also rose NT$1.60, or 6.7 percent, to NT$25.50.