Taiex stages strong rebound Tuesday morning

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan staged a strong rebound of more than 3 percent Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS that he thought the war in the Middle East may be over soon.

At 10:12 a.m., the Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, had soared 1,040.67 points, or 3.24 percent, to 33,151.09.

On Monday, the index plunged 4.43 percent, or 1,489.12 points, as the war in the Middle East escalated and sent crude oil prices over US$100 per barrel. It was the fourth steepest single-day point decline fall in the Taiex's history.

Analysts said Trump's remarks to CBS caused crude oil prices to fall back to US$95 per barrel Monday afternoon, prompting the major stock indexes in the United States to bounce back.

Dealers said the Taiex simply followed suit, rising more than 1,000 points to return to the 33,000 point mark Tuesday morning.

Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which accounts for more than 40 percent of total market value, led the Taiex's rebound, rising 4.14 percent to NT$1,885.00 (US$59.30) as of 10:12 a.m.

Among other large-cap tech stocks, AI server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Co. had risen 1.66 percent to NT$214.00 and smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. had gained 3.00 percent to NT$1,715.00.