Taiwanese shares edged higher yesterday, with the weighted index, the market’s key barometer, advancing 5.53 points, or 0.09 percent, to close at 5,880.77.
Buoyed by Wall Street’s rise overnight and hopes that the third round of talks between Taiwan and China this weekend will help the economy, the local bourse opened higher at 5,913.13 and rose to a high of 5,987.23 early in the session before falling back to as low as 5,824.42.
A total of 6.52 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$144.46 billion (US$3.91 billion).
Taiwan’s stock market added 125.39 points, or 2.18 percent, this week and has risen sharply from a low of 4,242.61 points on Jan. 20. It is the world’s second best-performing market this year, trailing only the Shanghai market.
PAPER AND PULP
Four of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with paper and pulp stocks moving up the most at 4.0 percent.
Construction shares advanced 1.9 percent, banking and financial issues gained 1.1 percent and textile shares rose 0.6 percent.
LOSERS
Four other major stock categories lost ground, with cement stocks moving down the most at 1.9 percent. Foodstuff shares fell 0.6 percent and machinery and electronics shares and plastics and chemicals stocks dropped 0.1 percent.
Gainers outnumbered losers 1,154 to 968, with 170 stocks remaining unchanged.
Foreign investors were bought shares worth NT$1.64 billion.
One institutional investor told reporters that the weekend’s talks between Taiwan and China had already been factored into share prices, and without further positive news to buoy the market next week, the TAIEX could fall to 5,600 on profit taking.
If, however, turnover falls to below NT$100 billion per session but the market stays firm, and margin trading does not noticeably increase, it could mark the start of a new rally, the analyst said.
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