Taiwan’s benchmark TAIEX could approach 35,000 points next year, as it continues to ride a global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, five major advisory firms said.
President Capital Management Corp (統一投顧) offered the most optimistic outlook among the firms, saying the index would reach 34,988.
AI applications are expected to extend from servers to edge AI devices such as smart glasses, driving the continued growth of AI-related stocks and supporting a higher TAIEX next year, President Capital Management president Liao Wan-ting (廖婉婷) said.
Photo: CNA
The TAIEX this year fell to a low of 17,391.76 on April 9, after US President Donald Trump threatened exorbitant tariffs on most of the US’ main trading partners, before rebounding strongly.
The index closed at 27,980.89 on Friday, up 21.47 percent so far this year and up 61 percent from the April 9 low on easing tariff concerns, AI enthusiasm and expectations of more US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) — Taiwan’s top five tech companies by market value — have all benefited from AI momentum, Capital Investment Management Corp president Rico Fan (范振鴻) said.
Fan forecast that the TAIEX would challenge 34,000 points next year, and the five companies, which account for 52.8 percent of the market’s capitalization, would continue to dominate the broader market.
First Capital Management Inc (第一金投顧) chairman Barry Huang (黃詣庭) also expressed confidence that the global AI trend would be sustained and that Taiwan would remain a major beneficiary.
TSMC, which represents more than 40 percent of the TAIEX’s market cap alone, would post earnings per share of NT$75 next year and help the TAIEX move higher, Huang said.
The market has expected TSMC’s earnings per share to exceed NT$60 this year.
Huang predicted the TAIEX could reach 31,000 points next year, and possibly 33,000, if the economy improves further.
Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) chairman Edward Chen (陳奕光) anticipated that the index would hit 32,000 points and go as high as 34,000 in a best-case scenario.
He said he expected ample market liquidity and the Fed’s anticipated rate cuts to contribute to the AI-driven momentum.
Hua Nan Securities Investment Management Co (華南投顧) chairman Jerry Lu (呂仁傑) said he did not expect the AI bubble to burst soon and forecast the TAIEX to climb as high as 32,000 next year.
DAMAGE REPORT: Global central banks are assessing war-driven inflation risks as the law of unintended consequences careens around the world, spiking oil prices Central banks from Washington to London and from Jakarta to Taipei are about to make their first assessments of economic damage after more than two weeks of conflict between the US and Iran. Decisions this week encompassing every member of the G7 and eight of the world’s 10 most-traded currency jurisdictions are likely to confirm to investors that the specter of a new inflation shock is already worrying enough to prompt heightened caution. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to do exactly what everyone anticipated weeks ahead of its March 17-18 policy gathering: hold rates steady. The narrative surrounding that
At a massive shipyard in North Vancouver, Canadian workers grind metal beams for a powerful new icebreaker crucial to cementing the country’s presence in the increasingly contested arctic. Icebreakers are specialized, expensive vessels able to navigate in the frozen far north. And “this is the crown jewel,” said Eddie Schehr, vice president of production at the Seaspan shipyard. For Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of
Chinese entrepreneur Frank Gao used to spend long hours running his social media accounts but now outsources the chore to artificial intelligence (AI) agent tool OpenClaw, which is taking China by storm despite official warnings over cybersecurity. OpenClaw, created in November by an Austrian coder, differs from bots such as ChatGPT because it can execute real-life tasks such as sending e-mails, organizing files or even booking flight tickets. “Since January, I’ve spent hours on the lobster every day,” Gao said in an interview, referring to OpenClaw’s red crustacean mascot. “We’re family.” After downloading OpenClaw, users connect it to artificial intelligence models of their
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
RSS