Taiex closes at high, led by electronics after Nasdaq smashes records

Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at another high Tuesday, led by large-cap electronics stocks, as investors took cues from gains posted by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which hit a record overnight, dealers said.

The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), rose 307.80 points, or 1.25 percent, to close at 24,855.18, after moving between 24,650.46 and 24,880.07. Turnover totaled NT$492.77 billion (US$16.25 billion).

The market opened up 0.42 percent, with buying accelerating as investors rushed to pick up tech heavyweights, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), following a strong showing on the Nasdaq on the back of robust corporate earnings and solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, dealers said. The intraday high was also the highest in history.

"Strong earnings reports in the United States bolstered investors' confidence in AI development, prompting them to raise holdings in local AI-related stocks," Moore Securities Investment Consulting analyst Adam Lin said.

TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in Taiwan, rose 1.69 percent to close at the day's high of NT$1,200.00. iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. gained 1.97 percent to end at NT$207.50. Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. added 5.59 percent to close at NT$1,510.00, while power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. soared 7.99 percent to NT$784.00.

"The four tech giants drove the broader market higher today," Lin said. "I suspect foreign institutional investors stood on the buy side in hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its policymaking meeting next week."

Also in the tech sector, LITE-ON Technology Corp., which manufactures power solutions for AI servers, rose 4.85 percent to NT$140.50, while graphics card vendor Giga-Byte Technology Co. climbed 3.64 percent to NT$284.50.

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$35.65 billion worth of shares on the main board on Tuesday.

"With the electronics sector accounting for about 70 percent of today's turnover, nontech stocks were largely left behind. However, select machinery stocks attracted strong buying on their efforts in robotics development related to AI," Lin said.

Among them, Teco Electric & Machinery Co. surged 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to NT$79.60, while Hiwin Technology Co. jumped 7.04 percent to NT$220.50.

Elsewhere in the old-economy sector, Lungteh Shipbuilding Co. lost 1.60 percent to NT$185.00, and fighter jet developer Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. fell 0.75 percent to NT$66.00, as investors pocketed profits recently built up in so-called "military concept" stocks.

In the financial sector, which rose 0.75 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. and Cathay Financial Holding Co. gained 0.47 percent to close at NT$86.40 and NT$64.10, respectively, while CTBC Financial Holding Co. added 0.60 percent to NT$42.00.

"I expect rotational buying to remain active in the short term, so second- and third-tier stocks could soon receive liquidity support," Lin said.