Share prices rose 0.68 percent yesterday to close above 7,000 points for the first time in 25 months after Beijing unveiled a series of sweeteners to boost tourism, trade and other links, dealers said.
Chen Yunlin (
At the forum, Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Foreign investor interest provided additional support for a market which has generally lagged its peers in the region, dealers said.
The weighted index closed up 47.55 points at 7,000.09, off a low of 6,950.58 and a high of 7,015.91, on turnover of NT$126.37 billion (US$3.90 billion). This was the highest finish since March 4, 2004 when the index closed at 7,034.10 points.
The paper sector was up 6.72 percent, food added 4.95 percent and textiles 4.47 percent, with tourism rising 2.82 percent as investors took the Chinese lead to buy in.
In comparison, the key electronics sector slipped 0.12 percent.
"The improved cross-strait economic ties apparently gave the broad market a boost," said Frank Lin, senior vice president with Fubon Securities (
"While there was some profit-taking, foreign investor interest still supported the bourse," he said.
He said tourism-related stocks extended their rally but did not gain as much as some other old-economy stocks, due to investors locking in profits.
"Such cross-strait factors had been priced into tourism-related stocks previously; now investors are focusing on the Taiwan government's response and the detailed rules for implementation," Lin said.
The market will also monitor further cross-strait moves, including whether any progress is made in other major issues such as direct transport links across the Strait.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS