Buying pushes TAIEX higher
The TAIEX closed 1.51 percent higher yesterday as buying from institutional investors continued after Wall Street’s extended gains, dealers said.
The weighted index rose 73.93 points to 4,971.32 on turnover of NT$105.37 billion (US$3.06 billion).
The market opened up 0.89 percent triggered by Wall Street’s four-day winning streak.
The momentum continued, before some profit-taking emerged to compromise the gains, with the index moving closer the nearest technical resistance level at around 5,000 points, dealers said.
“Based on the trading volume, I suspect institutional investors stood behind the gains. They were cheered by the US markets’ performance,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Allen Lin said.
Lin said buying focused on market laggards, such as financial and construction stocks.
Mega Financial (兆豐金) rose 3.37 percent to NT$10.75 and Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰銀) rose 1.92 percent to NT$10.60.
Goldsun Development and Construction (國產實業建設) gained 7 percent to NT$10.70, Cathay Real Estate (國泰建設) rose 6.94 percent to NT$7.70 and Prince Housing (太子建設) was up 6.86 percent to NT$5.45.
“The Taiwan market has outperformed Wall Street recently amid adequate liquidity. It is possible for the market to experience a pullback over the next few sessions,” Lin said. “I expect the market to consolidate for some time, before overcoming the 5,000 point resistance.”
The tourism sector benefited from the arrival of the largest group of Chinese visitors to Taiwan since the launch of direct transport links last year.
Exchange in talks with HK
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp is in talks with Hong Kong to allow cross-trading of exchange-traded funds (ETF), Schive Chi (薛琦), chairman of the exchange, said yesterday.
The exchange expects to sign an agreement with Hong Kong “soon,” Schive said, without giving a timetable. The listing of ETFs is a major focus for the Taiwan exchange this year, he said. No foreign ETFs are listed on the Taiwan exchange.
ETFs are index-based products that allow investors to buy or sell shares in a portfolio of stocks in a single security.
Kingston denies stake report
Kingston Technology Co (金士頓) won’t be taking a stake in Taiwan Memory Co (台灣記憶體公司), the company being formed by the government to revamp the nation’s chip industry, chairman Tsai Tu-kung (蔡篤恭) said yesterday.
A report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday said Kingston would be taking a 5 percent to 10 percent stake in Taiwan Memory.
Tsai is also chairman of Powertech Technology Inc (力成), whose biggest shareholder is Kingston, with a 10.4 percent stake.
Powerchip sells Rexchip shares
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation’s largest maker of memory chips, said it had sold shares in Rexchip Electronics Corp (瑞晶電子) to Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc, resulting in a loss of NT$378 million (US$11 million).
Powerchip lowered its holding in the Taiwanese venture to 42.8 percent, it said in Taiwan Stock Exchange filing yesterday. Elpida raised its stake to 52 percent.
NT dollar on the rise
The New Taiwan dollar rose NT$0.079 to close at NT$34.416 against the greenback yesterday, as a rally in global stocks helped revive demand for assets from emerging markets. Turnover was US$813 million.
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