Taiwan shares end at new high as TSMC sets record

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved higher by more than 350 points Thursday to close at a new high in the wake of increased optimism over the business outlook for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, sending its shares above NT$1,000 for the first time.

The TAIEX, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended up 350.1 points, or 1.51 percent, at 23,522.53 after moving between 23,360.88 and 23,571.82. Turnover totaled NT$535.08 billion (US$16.44 billion).

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, led the upturn on the local main board, while other tech stocks also steamed ahead to fuel the rally, dealers said.

On the back of abundant market liquidity and strong buying, TSMC opened significantly higher to breach the NT$1,000 market and hit a day's high of NT$1,010 before closing at NT$1,005. The stock's strong showing pushed TSMC's market capitalization up to NT$26.06 trillion and contributed about 211 points to the Taiex's increase.

Dealers said that TSMC stock's strong showing came as the company is set to hold an earnings call on July 18.

In addition, foreign institutional investors have taken an upbeat view about the company's business outlook, including an expected increase in capital expenditure for 2025 and the expectation that operational performance in the third quarter will increase by more than 10 percent from the second quarter, better than the market initially expected.

TSMC's buying spread to other large cap tech stocks such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which rose 5.67 percent to end at NT$214.50, and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), which soared 2.47 percent to close at NT$54.00.

Overall, the electronics index surged 1.95 percent, while most stock categories moved higher, with the foodstuff index rising more than 2 percent and the plastics, textile and construction sectors all increasing by more than 1 percent.

Bucking the upturn, shipping stocks and the travel and tourism sector were weak, falling 1.02 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively.

Alex Huang (黃國偉), an analyst at Mega International Investment Services Corp., said the market expects TSMC to issue a positive report during its upcoming earnings call, which helped boost the company's share price to a record high on Thursday.

TSMC's subsequent performance will continue to affect the trajectory of Taiwan's stock market, Huang added.

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth a total of NT$36.22 billion on the main board Thursday.