Taiwan shares surge as TSMC ends above NT$1,000 mark

Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved sharply higher Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index posted record-high closes overnight, dealers said.

Buoyed by a strong showing by artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp., contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) closed above the NT$1,000 (US$31.42) mark to lead the broader market, and other AI-related stocks also benefited, dealers added.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, ended up 329.82 points, or 1.47 percent, at 22,761.60 after moving between 22,569.29 and 22,785.32. Turnover totaled NT$436.2 billion.

The market opened up 0.61 percent in response to the gains posted by the Dow and the S&P index on Tuesday, and momentum continued to the end of the session.

TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, closed 1.82 percent higher at the day's high of NT$1,005.00 after Nvidia gained 3.97 percent on the Nasdaq exchange Tuesday.

"Led by TSMC, the Taiex remained well above the 60-day moving average (of around 22,315 points) for the second consecutive session today," Cathay Futures Consultant analyst Tsai Ming-han said.

"Today's gains showed that many investors have become more confident about the future movement of the market."

It was the first time TSMC had finished above the NT$1,000 mark since July 18, when it also closed at NT$1,005.00.

Its gains on Wednesday contributed about 145 points to the Taiex's rise and helped the electronics index and semiconductor sub-index gain 1.66 percent and 1.83 percent, respectively.

TSMC's buying spread to other semiconductor stocks.

Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. gained 2.51 percent to end at NT$1,225.00, and Global Unichip Corp., TSMC's application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design subsidiary, soared the maximum 10 percent to close at NT$1,170.00.

Bucking the upturn, Alchip Technologies Ltd., another ASIC designer, lost 1.14 percent to end at NT$2,160.00.

Wednesday's gains also resulted from liquidity-led buying after the U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off an interest rate cut cycle last week, Tsai said.

"With liquidity on the rise, TSMC could challenge its historical closing high of NT$1,080.00 (seen on July 11) soon," Tsai said.

Nvidia's upturn also led investors to buy into AI-related stocks with relatively low valuations that had lagged behind TSMC, Tsai said.

Second to TSMC in terms of market value, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which also rolls out AI servers, rose 3.01 percent to close at NT$188.50, and Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server supplier, jumped 6.24 percent to end at NT$272.50.

"Improved market sentiment also benefited old economy stocks as investors' appetite to take risks grew," Tsai said.

The transportation industry rose 2.85 percent as international news media reported port workers at ports on the east coast of the U.S. could go on strike on Oct. 1.

Container cargo shipper Wan Hai Lines Ltd. surged 10 percent to close at NT$99.70, and rivals Evergreen Marine Corp. and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. rose 2.70 percent and 4.14 percent, respectively, to end at NT$209.50 and NT$70.40.

After international crude oil prices rose 2 percent overnight, the petrochemical index gained 1.31 percent.

Formosa Plastics Corp. rose 4.33 percent to close at NT$50.60, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. closed 1.28 percent higher at NT$43.40, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. gained 2.32 percent to close at NT$41.95, and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. added 0.99 percent to end at NT$51.20.

Elsewhere in the old economy sector, Teco Electric & Machinery Co. rose 2.05 percent to close at NT$49.70, and Fortune Electric Co. also gained 2.05 percent to end at NT$648.00.

In the financial sector, which rose 0.44 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. gained 1.21 percent to close at NT$67.00. and Fubon Financial Holding Co. ended up 0.76 percent at NT$93.30. But CTBC Financial Holding Co. lost 0.14 percent to end at NT$34.95.

"After Washington reported weaker consumer confidence data overnight, investors should pay close attention to upcoming economic data to get a better picture of the U.S. economy," Tsai said, referring to the September nonfarm payroll data due next week.

The U.S. Conference Board's September consumer confidence index fell to 98.7, down from 105.6 in August, the steepest one-month decline since August 2021.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$34.79 billion in shares on the market Wednesday.