Taiwan shares extend gains, led by tech stocks, after U.S. rally

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan rose more than 1 percent Wednesday, with buying sparked by a strong performance on U.S. markets overnight amid hopes that a ceasefire between Israel and Iran will hold, dealers said.

After surging 2.10 percent on Tuesday, the Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's weighted index, ended up 241.85 points, or 1.09 percent, at 22,430.61 after moving between 22,284.52 and 22,444.51. Turnover totaled NT$386.52 billion (US$13.14 billion).

The market opened up 0.69 percent with large cap tech stocks in focus, helping the Taiex get past high technical hurdles ahead of the 240-day moving average of 22,270 points, after a 3.77 percent jump on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight, dealers said.

That strength continued to the end of the session.

"The Taiex rode the waves of positive leads in the Middle East after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran," Concord Capital Management analyst Lu Chin-wei said.

"Moreover, the share price gains posted by American artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp. on Tuesday also reinforced the market's faith in global AI development, encouraging buying in semiconductor stocks and AI related stocks in Taiwan," Lu said.

With Nvidia rising 2.59 percent, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock here, rose 1.90 percent to close at NT$1,070.00 and returned to its prior ex-dividend level for the first time in 10 trading sessions.

The stock contributed about 160 points to the Taiex's rise and contributed to a 1.50 percent increase in the electronics index.

Other semiconductor stocks also did well. Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. closed 1.97 percent higher at NT$1,295.00, and IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. rose 2.34 percent to close at NT$153.00.

Global Unichip Corp., TSMC's application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design subsidiary, soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$1,225.00.

AI server maker Quanta Computer Inc. rose 1.21 percent to close at NT$293.00, and rival Wistron Corp. gained 4.58 percent to end at NT$125.50. Wistron's cloud services subsidiary Wiwynn Corp. jumped 7.75 percent to close at NT$2,710.00.

"Today, the electronics sector attracted most of the market's attention, accounting for about 73 percent of total turnover," Lu said. "It was no surprise that non-tech stocks were mixed."

After a fall in crude oil prices, Formosa Plastics Corp. lost 0.43 percent to end at NT$35.05 and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. dropped 0.22 percent to close at NT$22.80, while Nan Ya Plastics Corp. rose 1.09 percent to end at NT$27.85.

Also in the old economy sector, food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. lost 0.63 percent to close at NT$79.40, while rival Wei Chuan Foods Corp. gained 1.92 percent to end at NT$15.95.

In the financial sector, which rose 0.44 percent, E. Sun Financial Holding Co. gained 1.25 percent to close at NT$32.30, while Fubon Financial Holding Co. lost 0.46 percent to end at NT$85.70. Cathay Financial Holding Co. closed unchanged at NT$66.50.

"Judging from today's buying, I think foreign institutional investors stood on the buy side," Lu said.

"But they still hold a large number of short position futures contracts, indicating they remain cautious about uncertainties created by Trump's tariff polices."

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$35.60 billion in shares on the market Wednesday.