Taiwan shares ended up for a seventh day in nine, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. raised its earnings forecast for the company for the year and a benchmark US chip index surged.
"We expect TSMC to continue to outpace the foundry industry as it is exposed to end-market segments that are outpacing overall demand," San Francisco-based J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Bliss wrote in a note to clients.
The TAIEX added 112.21, or 2 percent, to 5,638.53, its highest since Mar. 30 and bringing its gain this week to 4.5 percent. It's the world's fourth-best performer over the last three months, up 60 percent in US dollar terms. Within the index today, 300 stocks rose and 187 fell.
TSMC accounted for a third of the index's gains. The total value of trade yesterday was NT$161.8 billion (US$4.6 billion), up from NT$158.6 billion yesterday.
The TAIEX and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which yesterday soared 8.3 percent, have a correlation of 0.7 over the last 12 months, which suggests they move in tandem 70 percent of the time.
TSMC, the largest contract chipmaker, rose NT$3.50, or 4.1 percent, to NT$89. Its US shares yesterday surged 6.3 percent to US$18.58. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
Eva Airways Corp (長榮航空) rose NT$0.15, or 1.5 percent, to NT$10.25. Taiwan's second-largest airline yesterday forecast a return to profit this year as travel is expected to rebound worldwide and the island's economy recovers from recession. Sales may increase 10 percent this year to NT$57.7 billion from an estimated NT$52.4 billion last year.
Nan Ya Plastic Corp (
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