Tue, Jan 07, 2025 page9

• TSMC reaches new high, boosts TAIEX

  TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points.

  TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise.

  The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

  

  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, US, is pictured on Thursday last week.

  Photo: Bloomberg

  The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ Composite index increasing 1.77 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbing 2.83 percent. TSMC’s American Depositary Receipts also posted a 3.49 percent rise.

  TSMC and several electronics heavyweights attracted strong buying yesterday ahead of the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, analysts said.

  “Many investors at home and abroad have highly anticipated Nvidia Corp will give positive leads at CES,” MasterLink Securities Corp (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said, referring to a keynote speech Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is to give at the tech event.

  “So, after the strong showing among tech stocks on the US markets on Friday, large-cap electronics stocks in Taiwan just followed suit, led by TSMC,” Tang said.

  Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), assembly partner of Nvidia and Apple Inc, rallied 1.93 percent after the company reported better-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter and the whole of last year.

  Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mixed yesterday, as traders struggled to track a healthy run-up on Wall Street, with minds turning to US president-elect Donald Trump’s second presidency.

  Sydney, Singapore, Manila and Wellington edged up, while Seoul piled on 1.9 percent even as South Korea remains gripped by political uncertainty following suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s brief martial law attempt last month.

  Tokyo retreated more than 1 percent, with Nippon Steel Corp taking a hit after US President Joe Biden blocked its proposed US$14.9 billion purchase of US Steel Corp, saying that it would “create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.”

  There were also losses in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta.

  Meanwhile, Chinese stocks extended losses yesterday to three-month lows despite authorities’ efforts to shore up the market, as concerns over economic recovery and geopolitical tensions weighed.

  The blue-chip CSI 300 closed down 0.2 percent to its lowest level since Sept. 27 last year, extending a 5.2 percent drop last week, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1 percent.

  To stabilize volatility, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges met with foreign institutions over the weekend, with both bourses pledging to continue opening up China’s capital markets and asking some large mutual funds to restrict selling.

  Additional reporting by AFP and Reuters
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