Taiwan shares soar almost 600 points after U.S. rally

Taipei, Dec. 23 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved sharply higher Monday and recouped most of the losses seen in the previous two sessions following a solid showing by American markets at the end of last week, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector drove the gains, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, ended up 594.29 points, or 2.64 percent, at 23,104.54 after moving between 22,811.56 and 23,132.25. Turnover totaled NT$353.09 billion (US$10.8 billion).

The market opened up 1.34 percent and the upward momentum remained to the end of the session after a 1.03 percent increase in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index and a 1.18 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday.

The point gains on the Taiex on Monday were the seventh most for a single day in history and the sixth most this year.

"Tech stocks on U.S. markets rebounded Friday so the Taiex followed suit, with TSMC in focus today," MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said.

The gains helped the Taiex recover from a 658.42 point tumble in the previous two trading sessions last week.

Tech heavyweights

TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, rose 4.35 percent to close at the day's high of NT$1,080.00. It contributed about 360 points to the Taiex's rise and sent the electronics index higher by 3.14 percent.

Among other semiconductor heavyweights, IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. rose 1.90 percent to end at NT$160.50, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. gained 1.44 percent to close at NT$141.00, and United Microelectronics Corp. ended up 1.30 percent at NT$42.90.

Second to TSMC in terms of market value, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which also rolls out AI servers, rose 2.49 percent to close at NT$185.50, and Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server maker, grew 4.14 percent to end at NT$289.00.

"Judging from the movement of these tech heavyweights, I suspect foreign institutional investors were net buyers," Tang said.

According to Taiwan Stock Exchange figures after the market closed, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$39.24 billion in shares on the market Monday.

Old economy and financial stocks

Old economy and financial stocks also moved higher in line with the broader market, but their gains were dwarfed by their tech counterparts, Tang said.

"That's because many local major players remained on the sidelines amid uncertainties over Donald Trump's new tariff policy once he returns to the White House, which kept turnover from expanding," Tang said.

In the old economy sector, Formosa Plastics Corp. rose 1.50 percent to close at NT$37.25 and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. gained 1.74 percent to end at NT$29.25 after bouncing back from recent heavy losses.

Elsewhere in the old economy sector, Eclat Textile Co. rose 1.60 percent to close at NT$509.00, but rival Far Eastern New Century Corp. lost 1.25 percent to end at NT$31.65.

In the financial sector, which rose 1.77 percent on a technical rebound, Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 2.53 percent to close at NT$69.00, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 1.11 percent to end at NT$91.40.

In addition, CTBC Financial Holding Co. grew 2.08 percent to close at NT$39.30.