Taiwan shares end up over 300 points on U.S. rally

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved higher sharply by more than 300 points Tuesday as buying was sparked by a rally in the United States overnight on the back of exemptions on tariffs from the White House for electronics items such as smartphones and computers, dealers said.

The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended up 344.58 points, or 1.77 percent, at 19,857.67 after moving between 19,576.15 and 19,895.43. Turnover totaled NT$295.94 billion (US$9.12 billion).

"Today's rebound largely reflected the gains on the U.S. markets overnight on tariff exemptions for electronics products," Mega International Investment Services analyst Alex Huang said, referring to a 2.21 percent increase in Apple Inc. shares overnight.

The U.S. government said late Friday that it will exempt electronic imports from reciprocal tariffs, including computers, phones and semiconductors.

However, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday the exemption was "not permanent."

"Many Taiwanese manufacturers are in the Apple supply chain so they simply followed their American counterparts, staging a rally to push up the broader market," Huang said.

Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), whose top client is believed to be Apple, rose 1.39 percent to close a NT$877.00.

TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock here, contributed about 95 points to the Taiex's rise and sent the electronics index up by 1.65 percent, serving as an anchor to the broader market.

Among other semiconductor stocks, IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. gained 2.26 percent to end at NT$135.50, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 1.07 percent to close at NT$1,385.00.

In addition, iPhone assembler and artificial intelligence maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., second to TSMC in terms of market value, added 0.72 percent to close at NT$139.50, and Wistron Corp., another AI server supplier, rose 5.34 percent to end at NT$10.50.

Overnight, Trump said his administration is mulling temporary exemptions from his 25 percent tariffs on the auto industry to give car companies more time to transition to manufacturing in the U.S.

"Such a move prompted many investors at home and abroad to think the president will allow flexibility and give a reprieve in the future," Huang said. "So many old economy stocks also attracted interest to add momentum to the Taiex."

With bargain hunters attracted by their low valuations after recent heavy losses, Formosa Petrochemical Corp. gained 6.13 percent to close at NT$37.25, and Formosa Plastics Corp. rose 3.39 percent to end at NT$36.55.

Elsewhere in the old economy sector, electric machinery suppliers Rexon Industrial Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$29.95 and Fortune Electric Co. surged 9.27 percent to end at NT$418.50 amid optimism toward the government's investments to strengthen Taiwan's electricity grid networks.

In the financial sector, which rose 1.43 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 2.75 percent to close at NT$56.00, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 1.98 percent to end at NT$82.50.

"Despite the Taiex's gains, turnover stayed low as market sentiment remained cautious about Trump's next tariff actions on semiconductors," Huang said. "I expect the index will be capped at 20,000 points in the short term."

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$490 million worth of shares on the main board Tuesday.