Taiwan shares end at another high, led by TSMC

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at a high Tuesday as buying further boosted contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) amid optimism over its sales during the current AI boom, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 471.26 points, or 1.57 percent, at the day's high of 30,576.30, off a low of 29,933.65. Turnover totaled NT$733.55 billion (US$23.31 billion).

The market opened down 0.57 percent at the day's low but quickly regained its footing as TSMC reversed its earlier losses and steamed ahead, with momentum accelerating late in the trading session as the Taiex moved toward another record closing level, dealers said.

"The earlier Taiex losses were just a small hiccup after yesterday's (2.57 percent) rally," MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said. "Buying in TSMC soon followed as investors appeared upbeat about the company's shipments of high-end processes."

As investors bet TSMC will deliver positive leads at its Jan. 15 investor conference, the stock, the most heavily weighted in Taiwan, rose 2.10 percent to close at a high of NT$1,705.00.

The rise contributed about 280 points to the Taiex's rise and helped push the electronics index higher by 1.94 percent.

"The recent interest in TSMC just allowed the stock to play catch-up with Nvidia Corp. due to its relatively low valuation," Tang said.

Memory chip suppliers also attracted strong buying on reports that South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix have raised product prices sharply, Tang said.

Among them, Nanya Technology Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$228.50, and rival Winbond Electronics Corp. jumped 8.90 percent to end at NT$104.00.

While non-tech stocks continued to be left behind, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. rose sharply as it is the parent of Nanya Technology, with "the gains having nothing to do with fundamentals in the petrochemical market," Tang said.

Nanya Technology rose 5.94 percent to close at NT$58.90 and Formosa Plastics Corp. added 0.53 percent to end at NT$38.20.

Also in the old economy sector, food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. fell 1.04 percent to close at NT$76.20, and Wei Chuan Foods Corp. ended down 0.35 percent at NT$14.35. In addition, Fortune Electric Co. added 0.27 percent to close at NT$739.00, while Teco Electric Machinery Co. lost 0.24 percent to end at NT$83.50.

In the financial sector, Fubon Financial Holding Co. dropped 0.82 percent to close at NT$96.40, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended down 0.65 percent at NT$76.00.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$2.81 billion in shares on the market Tuesday.