Electronics rally lifts index
Taiwanese shares closed up 3.28 percent yesterday as institutional investors resumed buying large cap electronic stocks, dealers said.
The weighted index opened 1.23 percent higher as investors ignored a pullback on Wall Street on Friday amid optimism about the earnings outlook for the electronics sector, they said.
Hopes the US government would inject more funds into the financial system buoyed several Asian markets, allowing Taiwan to keep the momentum going till the end of the session.
“Large cap high-tech stocks led the upside. I suspect foreign institutional investors stood behind the gains,” Mega Securities (兆豐證券) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.
“Sentiment has improved after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) said it would cancel unpaid leave. Investors are upbeat that recent large orders from China are boosting the sector’s bottom line,” he said.
Huang said that from a technical point of view, the market has become healthier after yesterday’s strong showing, although there was still a risk the market could fall back to the 5,000 point mark.
“The market is expected to see strong support at around 4,900 points in the near term even if any profit-taking emerges,” he said.
Ministry to auction bonds
The Ministry of Finance yesterday announced plans to sell NT$110 billion (US$3.3 billion) in bonds in the second quarter to help finance spending. This compares with the NT$100 billion the government sold in the same period last year.
The auction schedule is for NT$40 billion in five-year notes on April 21, NT$30 billion in 20-year bonds on May 12 and NT$40 billion in 10-year securities on June 15, the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan slipped into a recession in the fourth quarter, prompting the Cabinet to announce a four-year, NT$858.5 billion stimulus plan, including infrastructure spending, consumer grants and tax cuts.
The government will sell NT$20 billion 91-day Treasury bills next Monday and NT$20 billion 364-day securities on April 10, the statement said.
The legislature approved in January a NT$134.6 billion deficit for the government this year, the second consecutive shortfall, and higher than the NT$91.4 billion last year.
China trade group visits
The head of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for an eight-day visit at the invitation of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
Wan Jifei (萬季飛), who led a six-member Chinese delegation, and his Taiwanese counterpart, TAITRA chairman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛), yesterday signed a letter of intent for the trade promotion organizations to jointly promote and boost bilateral trade exchanges between Taiwan and China.
Wan and his group, which includes Zhao Linru (趙林如), president of the Fujian Council for the Promotion of International Trade, have kept their visit low key.
Wan, who is the son of Chinese Communist Party official Wan Li (萬里), also serves as vice chairman of the Expo 2010 Shanghai China Organization Committee.
Wan Jifei was to meet Chang Ping-chao (張平沼), chairman of the ROC General Chamber of Commerce, later yesterday.
Wan and his group are scheduled to visit central and southern Taiwan beginning today. Their itinerary includes visits to the scenic Sun Moon Lake and Alishan, TAITRA said.
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