The TAIEX yesterday soared by more than 150 points as the bellwether electronics sector staged a rebound, led by large-cap stocks throughout the session.
As investors rushed to pick up tech heavyweights, such as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the TAIEX vaulted past the 12,900-point mark to close up 157.97 points, or 1.24 percent, at 12,908.34.
Turnover was NT$164.114 billion (US$5.67 billion) on the main board, with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$12.76 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
“Today, investors here scrambled to buy into large-cap tech stocks. TSMC, again, was one of their favorites after the chipmaker last week gave an optimistic guidance for the whole of 2020,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su (蘇俊宏) said.
TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rose 1.89 percent to close at the day’s high of NT$457.50.
The chipmaker said in an investor conference on Thursday that on the back of solid demand for its high-end process technologies, its sales for this year are expected to grow about 30 percent from a year earlier.
“TSMC shares have been moving above the 20-day moving average of NT$442 and I do not expect it will face any major technical obstacles in the short term,” Su said. “The stock could continue an uptrend on sound fundamentals.”
In addition, Hon Hai, second to TSMC in terms of market capitalization, gained 3.44 percent to end at NT$81.30 amid strong preorder sales for Apple Inc’s new iPhone 12 series.
Among other Apple’s suppliers, smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) rose 4.05 percent to close at NT$3,085 and printed circuit board producer Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd (臻鼎), one of Hon Hai’s subsidiaries, soared 9.13 percent to end at NT$137.50.
“In addition to strong demand for the new iPhones, I think interest in Hon Hai was sparked by the company’s ambitions to enter the electric car market,” Su said, referring to a company announcement on Friday that a joint venture with Yulon Group (裕隆集團) is to roll out electronic vehicles in two years.
Su said that Hon Hai’s ambitions in electric car development also pushed up auto part stocks, with Mobiletron Electronics Co (車王電子) rising by the maximum daily increase of 10 percent to close at NT$32.65 and Laster Tech Co (麗清科技) advancing 9.13 percent to end at NT$39.70.
However, turnover shrank compared with Friday’s NT$185.397 billion.
“I think many investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the US presidential vote, which could create more uncertainty to the global financial markets,” Su said.
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