Taiwan shares end at fresh high, led by tech stocks after U.S. rally

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan smashed closing records Wednesday, helped by tech stocks after a tech rally in the United States overnight, an analyst said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 369.56 points, or 0.91 percent, at 41,138.85, after moving between 40,616.28 and 41,575.84.

Turnover also hit a high of NT$1.51 trillion (US$47.92 billion), beating the previous record of NT$1.46 trillion set on April 23.

The market opened higher and rose to the day's high within half an hour after a 1.03 percent increase on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index Tuesday, before volatility set in and pushed the Taiex into negative territory just after 10 a.m.

Buying then re-emerged and remained steady in the second half of the session, helping the broader market close at another high, Mega International Investment Services analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.

"Look at the massive turnover. I think the market was in a tug of war between investors who were cautious about a possible pullback and others who thought the uptrend would continue," he said.

"AI optimism still gained the upper hand today," Huang said.

"While contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) took a pause, buying rotated to other chip stocks, lending support to the Taiex."

After its American depositary receipts fell 1.79 percent overnight, TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, closed unchanged at NT$2,250.00.

Memory chip suppliers, however, followed American counterpart Micron Technology's 11.06 percent rise to surge ahead, with Winbond Electronics Corp. and Nanya Technology Corp. soaring 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$108.50 and NT$282.00, respectively.

Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. surged 8.72 percent to close at NT$3,430.00 on hopes that its efforts in developing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for AI use will offset the impact of a slower smartphone market.

Also in the electronics sector, AI server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rose 5.22 percent to end at NT$252.00.

"Buying was uneven, with old economy stocks largely left behind," Huang said. "I'm afraid the weakness will lead more investors to keep their hands off these stocks."

Formosa Plastics Corp. lost 1.17 percent to close at NT$50.70, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. fell 0.21 percent to end at NT$93.80.

Food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. dropped 0.58 percent to close at NT$68.70, and Wei Chuan Foods Corp. ended down 0.40 percent at NT$12.30.

In the financial sector, which rose 1.16 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. gained 1.94 percent to close at NT$78.70, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. ended up 0.65 percent at NT$92.80.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$75.10 billion in shares on the market Wednesday.