Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high Monday as buying in the bellwether electronics sector accelerated in the wake of gains posted by markets in the United States pointing to a possible higher opening later in the day, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s weighted index, ended up 148.04 points, or 0.61 percent, at 24,482.52, an all-time closing high, after hitting a record intraday high of 24,515.65. Turnover totaled NT$443.50 billion (US$14.79 billion).
The market lost ground in early trading “largely due to fears over a tariff on semiconductors by the United States,” Moore Securities Investment Consulting analyst Adam Lin said.
Those fears were based on reports over the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a levy of as high as 300 percent on semiconductors.
Among the major semiconductor stocks, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock here, closed unchanged at NT$1,180.00, while United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, lost 1.94 percent to end at NT$40.40.
Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer AIchip Technologies Ltd. fell 1.74 percent to close at NT$4,230.00, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. bucked the downturn to close 1.45 percent higher at NT$1,410.00.
“But as investors spotted U.S. stock futures and other Asian markets posting gains, they moved to buy tech stocks outside the IC industry to push the index to a record high,” Lin said. “I suspect the buying largely came from domestic investors.”
Amid optimism toward artificial intelligence development, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn), second to TSMC in terms of market value, rose 1.45 percent to close at NT$210.00.
Asia Vital Components Co., a supplier of cooling solutions for AI devices, rose 7.01 percent to close at NT$1,145.00, and printed circuit board maker Wus Printed Circuit Co. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$102.00.
In addition, ITEQ Corp., which rolls out copper clad laminate (CCL) materials used in PCB production, also surged 10 percent to close at NT$129.00.
Meanwhile, smartphone brand HTC Corp. jumped 10 percent for the second consecutive session to end at NT$51.60 after the company introduced its AI glasses — the Vive Eagle — on Thursday.
In the old economy sector, petrochemical stocks continued an uptrend led by Nan Ya Plastics Corp., which soared 7.68 percent to close at NT$46.25 on optimism over its supply of CCL materials to PCB makers. Formosa Plastics Corp. rose 1.64 percent to end at NT$40.40.
Buying also rotated to the glass and ceramics industry, a market laggard, with Taiwan Glass Industrial Corp. soaring 10 percent to close at NT$37.40 and Hocheng Corp. rising 4.59 percent to end at NT$21.65.
In the financial sector, which rose 0.33 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 0.23 percent to close at NT$89.00, and E. Sun Financial Holding Co. gained 1.03 percent to end at NT$34.35, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. lost 0.46 percent to close at NT$64.40.
“The U.S. tariff issues are expected to continue to affect market sentiment in the short term,” Lin said. “Investors should pay close attention to how foreign institutional investors act in the spot market on Wednesday, the futures settlement date.”
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$4.48 billion in shares on the market Monday.