The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) is looking to strengthen its market capitalization and liquidity this year by boosting the TAIEX’s presence at home and abroad, among other measures, TWSE chairman Sherman Lin (林修銘) said at a media briefing in Taipei yesterday.
Lin said he is seeking another 5 percent gain in market capitalization to NT$60 trillion (US$1.93 trillion), from NT$56.84 trillion last month, making the local bourse more attractive and liquid.
“The TWSE is to prioritize boosting the local bourse’s capitalization and liquidity as they sit atop the list of concerns of investors,” alongside companies’ earnings ability, business outlook and dividend policy, he said.
Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times
The exchange would work with JPMorgan Asset Management Ltd, HSBC Holdings PLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and several other foreign securities houses and custodian banks to jointly woo foreign investment funds and amplify the exposure of local firms, Lin said.
Officials from the exchange and the Financial Supervisory Commission last year visited Singapore, Japan and the US to help the local bourse better connect with other international capital markets, he said.
Exchange officials would visit investment institutions in the UK, EU and Middle East later this year to promote Taiwanese equities and add momentum to the local bourse, he said, adding that they are targeting listed firms with a capitalization of more than NT$10 billion.
The TAIEX last year moved from a trough of 14,000 points to finish at 17,930.81, logging a 26.8 increase that was second only to Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index and stronger than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and indices in Europe, Lin said.
That was despite aggressive monetary tightening by major central banks to tame inflation and intensifying geopolitical tensions, he said.
Daily turnover averaged NT$281.2 billion last year and there is still room for improvement this year, Lin said.
The local bourse last year had 12.51 million participants, accounting for 53 percent of the nation’s population, with those aged 20 to 30 making up half of the total, TWSE data showed.
Foreign funds own 40.60 percent of local shares after increasing their holdings by a net NT$275.4 billion last year.
The pace sharpened to NT$420 billion in November and last month, suggesting capital outflows in previous months.
Last year, 42 firms filed initial public offering applications, with 28 being approved and raising a total of NT$33.76 billion, the exchange said.
The exchange’s new trading platform for start-ups, the Taiwan Innovation Board, last year processed 14 listing applications with 10 making it onto the board, it said.
While only qualified investors are allowed to buy shares listed on the new trading platform, given the higher risks involved in investing in start-ups, the number of qualified investors more than doubled to 272,000 last year, it added.
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