Shares in Taiwan closed above the 44,000-point mark for the first time yesterday after the bellwether electronics sector rebounded following a US rally overnight amid continued enthusiasm over artificial intelligence (AI) development.
The TAIEX closed up 731.43 points, or 1.68 percent, at 44,256.80, and turnover on the local main board totaled NT$1.557 trillion (US$49.55 billion), compared with NT$1.47 trillion a session earlier, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
“Today’s large turnover demonstrated the willingness to chase prices was high, with buying in large-cap electronics stocks sparked by the strong showing in the United States overnight,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said, citing a 1.19 percent increase on the tech-heavy NASDAQ index.
Photo: CNA
“Many investors have high hopes that the upcoming Computex Taipei will generate positive leads on AI development, so they rushed to build up their holdings now,” Huang said.
“Local investors stood behind the recent strong TAIEX upturn,” he said. “Sitting on massive excess savings, local investors could park more funds in the bourse to boost liquidity further, paving the path to more returns.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which accounts for more than 40 percent of total market value, gained 1.32 percent to close at NT$2,300, contributing about 240 points to the TAIEX’s rise.
“TSMC still traded at a relatively low price-to-earnings multiple compared with other AI-related stocks,” Huang said. “I expect the stock has great potential to go even higher.”
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$143.50 as the smaller contract chipmaker said cooperation with Intel Corp on the 12-nanometer process remains on schedule.
Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) rose 8.79 percent and chip packaging, testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) gained 5.07 percent and power management solution supplier Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) rose 7.23 percent.
A rally in tech stocks also helped drive Seoul up more than 2 percent yesterday, with South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc jumping 11 percent to hit a US$1 trillion market capitalization, along with TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co to become the only three US$1 trillion companies in Asia. They are all top manufacturers of chips used in AI systems.
“In practical terms, the market heard one thing loud and clear: AI demand is no longer just about chips powering large language models. It is now about the memory systems required to feed those models at industrial scale,” SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said.
Markets elsewhere in Asia were mixed. Bangkok, Sydney and Wellington were also up, Tokyo was flat, while Hong Kong, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur dropped.
Additional reporting by AFP
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