Taiwan shares end at new high after U.S. rally amid eased Greenland worries

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at another high Friday in the wake of U.S. gains overnight after U.S. President Donald Trump rescinded his tariff threats on European countries over the pursuit of Greenland, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 215.43 points, or 0.68 percent, at 31,961.51, after moving between 31,693.15 and 32,042.44. Turnover totaled NT$794.43 billion (US$25.19 billion).

"Tech stocks continued to steam ahead, following their U.S. counterparts amid eased Greenland concerns," Hua Nan Securities analyst Kevin Su said, referring to a 0.91 percent rise on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index overnight.

"However, today buying rotated to select tech laggards, while contract chipmaker TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) was in a limited uptrend," Su said.

TSMC, which represents over 40 percent of total market value, rose 0.57 percent to close at NT$1,770.00. The stock contributed about 80 points to the Taiex's rise.

One of the market's laggards, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. soared 10 percent to end at NT$1,630.00. "The company is expected to benefit from its efforts to develop application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs during the current AI boom," Su said.

Buying also spread to other ASIC designers with shares in Alchip Technologies Ltd. rising 4.73 percent to close at NT$3,430.00, and TSMC's subsidiary Global Unichip Corp. gaining 5.83 percent to end at NT$2,725.00.

Also in the electronics sector, AI server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. fell 0.89 percent to close at NT$221.50, but power management solution supplier Delta Electronics Inc., which replaced Hon Hai as the second largest stock in market value Thursday, rose 1.20 percent to end at NT$1,260.00.

"With the electronics sector accounting for about 80 percent of total turnover, old economy stocks were largely mixed today," Su said.

Fortune Electric Co. lost 4.63 percent to close at NT$1,030.00, while Allis Electric Co. rose 1.42 percent to end at NT$142.50. In addition, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. dropped 0.90 percent to end at NT$77.10, but Formosa Plastics Corp. ended up 1.83 percent at NT$44.40.

In the financial sector, which rose 0.13 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 1.32 percent to close at NT$76.60, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 0.54 percent to end at NT$93.50.

"The Taiex faces psychological pressure ahead of 32,000 points but with TSMC's momentum, the index is expected to challenge that level again," Su said, adding that investors should closely watch the next U.S. Federal Reserve meeting slated for next week.

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$23.21 billion of shares on the main board Friday.