Taiwan shares close sharply up, led by electronics sector after U.S. rally

Taipei, Sept. 21 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed sharply higher Monday, with buying sparked by a U.S. tech rally at the end of last week, according to dealers.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 538.09 points, or 1.14 percent, at 47,718.84 after moving between 47,207.30 and 47,750.98. Turnover totaled 820.22 billion (US$25.79 billion).

"Although the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at another rate hike by the end of this year after last week's 25 basis point increase, major cloud service providers continued to pump funds into AI infrastructure, prompting investors to pick up tech stocks at home and abroad," Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said.

"In Taipei, strong buying continued to benefit semiconductor stocks, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC)," Huang said.

"IC designer MediaTek also attracted interest as investors appeared upbeat about its efforts in application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) development to tap the AI era," Huang added.

After its American depositary receipts rose 1.02 percent Friday, TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, added 0.81 percent to close at NT$2,480.00, contributing about 160 points to the Taiex's rise. MediaTek soared 6.37 percent to end at NT$5,010.00.

AIchip Technologies Inc., another ASIC designer, rose 3.53 percent to close at NT$3,665.00, but memory chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp. ended down 1.71 percent at NT$516.00.

Among other electronics component stocks, power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. surged 8.07 percent to close at NT$1,875.00, and flat panel maker AUO Corp. jumped 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$33.35 on reports that Intel Corp. planned cooperation in advanced IC assembly services.

Bucking the upturn, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. slid 0.20 percent to close at NT$250.00, while its connector affiliate Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co. rose 6.20 percent to end at NT$44.55.

The financial sector continued an uptrend, rising 0.82 percent, on hopes that the Fed's rate hike will boost interest income, dealers said.

Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 2.66 percent to close at NT$154.50, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended up 2.26 percent at NT$113.0.

With tech stocks attracting much of the market's attention, traditional industries appeared mixed.

Among them, Formosa Plastics Corp. closed up 0.31 percent at NT$65.20, but Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. ended down 0.44 percent at NT$67.80.

Evergreen Marine Corp., Taiwan's largest cargo container shipper, rose 0,62 percent to close at NT$242.00, but rival Wan Hai Line Ltd. ended down 2.90 percent at NT$117.00.

"A fall in crude oil prices also improved market sentiment today, so investors should keep a close eye on how military conflicts in the Middle East will evolve," Huang said. "In addition, the summit between Washington and Beijing later this week is worth watching."

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$20.38 billion of shares on the main board Monday.