The TAIEX yesterday surged 3.03 percent to 18,644.57, as heavyweight technology shares received a boost from the global buying of artificial intelligence (AI) suppliers over the Lunar New Year holiday, analysts said.
The local bourse resumed trading after a week in which US technology titans made concrete advances in line with upbeat AI growth expectations.
“The TAIEX mainly reflected the pickups on the Wall Street over the past week,” Nomura Asset Management Taiwan said, adding that shares of US chip giant Nvidia Corp have risen 25 percent this year and those of UK chip designer Arm Holdings PLC had almost doubled on strong sales and earnings guidance.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan, home to contract manufacturers of high-performance chips, AI servers and other electronics, was riding the global trend, Nomura said.
Specifically, shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), whose clients include Nvidia, Apple Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, rose 7.89 percent to a record high of NT$697 after its American depositary receipts registered gains during the holiday, Nomura said.
TSMC’s rise came as little surprise in light of the close relations between the local bourse and the fate of major US technology stocks over the years, Nomura said.
Shares in chip tester and packager ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) closed up 4.23 percent at NT$135.5, while those of AI server vendor Wistron Corp (緯創) rose 4.82 percent to close at NT$130.5, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Global index provider MSCI Inc’s announcement on Tuesday that it would raise Taiwan’s weighting in two of its major indices later this month lent further support to the local bourse, analyst Chen Wei-liang (陳威良) said.
ShunSin Technology Holdings Ltd (訊芯) is to be added to the MSCI ACWI Small-Cap Index, after the chip tester’s shares have soared 37.55 percent so far this year, Chen said.
Turnover was NT$492.695 billion (US$15.678 billion) after foreign institutional players raised their holdings by a net NT$56.26 billion and proprietary traders added a net NT$2.22 billion.
Mutual funds opted to take profits and their portfolios shrank by a net NT$1.11 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
By contrast, tourism plays took a hit from the government’s ban on group tours to China after Beijing failed to provide a favorable response to Taiwan’s unilateral opening up.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) shares closed down 2.79 percent to NT$31.35, while China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) shares fell 2.44 percent to close at NT$20.
Analysts remain positive about AI shares going forward, as companies and organizations pour more money into AI development and applications, which they believe would shake up workplaces and people’s lives.
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