Taiwan stocks rose after US manufacturing expanded in February for the first time in 19 months, signaling a recovery in demand for chipmakers such as United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) from their biggest export market.
Computer-related exporters also gained after the Nasdaq Composite Index had its biggest rally since Dec. 5. Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統) rose after saying sales last month increased more than a quarter.
The TAIEX rose 193.70, or 3.4 percent, to 5874.48.
Within the index, 463 stocks rose and 48 fell. The total value of trade was NT$131 billion (US$3.7 billion), more than a third higher than the six-month daily average of NT$97.2 billion.
"It does look like things in the US are on the mend," said David Loomis, chief strategist at Primasia Securities Co.
"We have seen strong monthly sales from the listed companies in Taiwan."
The TAIEX, 64 percent of which is made up of electronics stocks, and the Nasdaq, 49 percent of whose market value is computer and telecommunications stocks, have had a correlation of 0.7 over the last six months. That indicates they move in tandem with each other about 70 percent of the time.
Chipmakers rose after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of companies that design and make chips, soared 11 percent on Friday on optimism an economic recovery in the US will boost demand for semiconductors.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the largest made-to-order chipmaker, which sold more than two-thirds of its semiconductors to the US last year, rose NT$5.50, or 6.8 percent, to NT$86.50. Its US-traded shares rose 7.1 percent to US$17.41, their largest gain since Dec. 5.
Rival UMC rose NT$3, or 6.4 percent, to NT$50. Its US-traded shares added 8.9 percent to US$9.20. The second-largest made-to-order chipmaker, which on Friday topped the list of net purchases by foreign investors, bought back 8.4 million of its own shares for NT$391 million.
Among memory chipmakers, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) rose NT$2.20, or 5 percent, to NT$46.10. Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電腦), the second-largest memory chipmaker, gained NT$1.70, or 6.8 percent, to NT$26.70. Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), the third largest, soared NT$1.20, or 6.9 percent, to NT$18.70.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,