Taiwan stocks rose after US manufacturing expanded in February for the first time in 19 months, signaling a recovery in demand for chipmakers such as United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) from their biggest export market.
Computer-related exporters also gained after the Nasdaq Composite Index had its biggest rally since Dec. 5. Silicon Integrated Systems Corp (矽統) rose after saying sales last month increased more than a quarter.
The TAIEX rose 193.70, or 3.4 percent, to 5874.48.
Within the index, 463 stocks rose and 48 fell. The total value of trade was NT$131 billion (US$3.7 billion), more than a third higher than the six-month daily average of NT$97.2 billion.
"It does look like things in the US are on the mend," said David Loomis, chief strategist at Primasia Securities Co.
"We have seen strong monthly sales from the listed companies in Taiwan."
The TAIEX, 64 percent of which is made up of electronics stocks, and the Nasdaq, 49 percent of whose market value is computer and telecommunications stocks, have had a correlation of 0.7 over the last six months. That indicates they move in tandem with each other about 70 percent of the time.
Chipmakers rose after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a price-weighted index of companies that design and make chips, soared 11 percent on Friday on optimism an economic recovery in the US will boost demand for semiconductors.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the largest made-to-order chipmaker, which sold more than two-thirds of its semiconductors to the US last year, rose NT$5.50, or 6.8 percent, to NT$86.50. Its US-traded shares rose 7.1 percent to US$17.41, their largest gain since Dec. 5.
Rival UMC rose NT$3, or 6.4 percent, to NT$50. Its US-traded shares added 8.9 percent to US$9.20. The second-largest made-to-order chipmaker, which on Friday topped the list of net purchases by foreign investors, bought back 8.4 million of its own shares for NT$391 million.
Among memory chipmakers, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) rose NT$2.20, or 5 percent, to NT$46.10. Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電腦), the second-largest memory chipmaker, gained NT$1.70, or 6.8 percent, to NT$26.70. Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), the third largest, soared NT$1.20, or 6.9 percent, to NT$18.70.
The China Coast Guard yesterday said it had “expelled” a Japanese ship from waters around the Diaoyutais (釣魚台). The uninhabited islands — which are known as the Senkakus in Japan — are claimed by Taipei and Beijing, but are administered by Tokyo. China Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun (劉德軍) said that a Japanese fishing vessel had “illegally entered territorial waters” around the islands from Tuesday to Wednesday. The coast guard “took necessary control measures in accordance with the law, warned [the ship] and expelled it,” Liu said in an online statement. “The Diaoyu and affiliated islands are China’s inherent territory and we urge the
The military detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft around the nation, the Ministry of National Defense announced today, after China held a day of large-scale drills yesterday. The aircraft were spotted in the 25-hour period until 6am today, the ministry said in a statement — the most for a single day. Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard boats to encircle Taiwan yesterday, with Taiwan responding by dispatching "appropriate forces" and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert. The ministry typically records the numbers of Chinese warplanes and warships operating around Taiwan in 24-hour periods from 6am to 6am the
A research team led by National Tsing Hua University Department of Physics and Center for Quantum Science and Technology professor Chuu Chih-sung (褚志崧) has developed Taiwan’s first and the world’s smallest quantum computer, using a single photon, the university said yesterday. Chuu said in the study, which was published in the journal Physical Review Applied last month, that they had resolved the main obstacles for quantum computing development — high energy costs and a low-temperature operating environment. Chuu said that photons are the smallest possible particle of electromagnetic energy, and his team had devised a way to encode information in 32time
China simultaneously employed cognitive warfare while conducting military drills around Taiwan on Monday, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau insinuated yesterday The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) early on Monday launched military drills code-named “Joint Sword-2024B” involving its army, navy, air and rocket forces in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan. They ended at 6pm. The bureau said it had found several false reports online, such as untrue assertions of Taiwan’s military failing to respond quickly and that ships carrying liquefied natural gas had been forced to turn around. The messages formed “cognitive manipulation” by “overseas