BULLISH DAY:
Stocks also rallied elsewhere in Asia, led by Tokyo and Seoul, which piled on at least 5 percent thanks to another flood into technology firms
Shares in Taiwan surged more than 1,200 points and closed above the 45,000-point mark yesterday on an announcement by the US and Iran that they have reached a peace deal slated to be signed on Friday.
The TAIEX ended up 1,227.95 points, or 2.78 percent, at 45,396.99, as foreign institutional investors bought a net of NT$46.53 billion (US$1.474 billion) of shares, proprietary traders increased holdings by NT$12.52 billion and investment trust firms added NT$4.895 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The New Taiwan dollar also rose NT$0.054, or 0.17 percent, to close at the day’s high of NT$31.564 against the US dollar, Taipei Forex Inc data showed,
Photo: CNA
“With the US-Iran deal, crude oil prices fell and could fall further, easing inflation concerns worldwide,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said.
Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, fell 4.3 percent at one point yesterday, while West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark crude, was down 4.9 percent.
“So, regional equity markets moved sharply higher today,” Huang said, “Taiwan cannot be isolated, with buying seen almost across the board, led by the electronics sector during the current AI boom.”
Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) rose 2.81 percent, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) rose 6.94 percent and passive components maker Yageo Corp (國巨) jumped 10 percent.
Despite falling crude prices, select petrochemical stocks still attracted strong interest as Huang said investors had hopes about their efforts in electronics material production to tap the artificial intelligence era.
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) soared 10 percent and its affiliates Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維) rose 4.42 percent and 5.74 percent, respectively.
Stocks also rallied elsewhere in Asia, led by Tokyo and Seoul, which piled on at least 5 percent thanks to another flood into tech firms, fueled by last week’s record-breaking US$75 billion market debut by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Softbank Group Corp, along with chipmakers Tokyo Electron Ltd and Advantest Co led the way in Tokyo, while chip titans Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc also chalked up healthy gains in Seoul.
Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Mumbai all rose more than 1 percent while Manila jumped more than 6 percent. Hong Kong was up 0.5 percent.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the sharp drop in oil costs soothed growing concerns about soaring inflation.
“Oil down takes the inflation impulse down. Lower inflation risk takes some of the Fed-hike premium out of the curve. Lower yields give duration and growth equities room to breathe,” Innes said.
However, he also said: “This is a first step deal, not a final peace settlement. It is a marketable ceasefire framework that kicks the hard problems down the road.”
Additional reporting by AFP
