The TAIEX surged 26.7 percent for the year, boosting the stock market’s capitalization to NT$56.84 trillion (US$1.85 trillion), gaining NT$12.58 trillion from last year.
The index jumped 3,793 points from its close on the final trading day last year to close at 17,930.81, the highest daily closing level since early March last year.
The gain exceeded the 3,596-point increase in 2009 to become the second-largest annual increase in the TAIEX’s history, trailing only the 4,505-point leap in 1989 when the exchange had just started.
Photo: CNA
The primary driver behind the surge in market capitalization this year was the strong performance of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). TSMC saw its stock price soar 32 percent to close at NT$593 yesterday, bringing the company’s market value to NT$15.37 trillion.
IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) saw its share price rebound 62 percent to NT$1,015 yesterday from a trough early this year. The smartphone chip supplier saw its market capitalization jump to NT$1.6 trillion, a NT$640 billion increase.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), a major artificial intelligence server maker, saw its market capitalization grow by NT$558.9 billion this year to NT$865.3 billion.
Taishin China Equity Fund manager Wei Yung-hsiang (魏永祥) said the market is focusing closely on whether the meeting next month of the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee would send a strong signal indicating interest rate cuts.
A rate cut signal could lead investors to anticipate depreciation of the US dollar and revive interest in non-US-dollar-denominated assets such as Asian equities, Wei said.
Wei said he is bullish about the stock market performance next quarter due to improvements in fundamentals.
Wei said listed companies are next year to see a double-digit percentage growth in net profits.
The growth would be driven by improving supply chain inventory, which would stimulate new demand for consumer electronics and their components, he said.
As the government usually releases favorable policies at the beginning of a year, investors are usually positive about the stock performance in the first quarter, Wei said.
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