Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed higher on Tuesday after briefly hitting the 42,000-point mark, driven primarily by gains in the bellwether electronics sector following a U.S. tech rally. The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 108.26 points, or 0.26 percent, at 41,898.32 after fluctuating between 41,471.57 and 42,253.42. Turnover reached NT$1.38 trillion (US$43.39 billion).
According to Focus Taiwan, this session marked the fourth consecutive time the index breached the 42,000-point mark but did not sustain all earlier gains, closing below that level. Hua Nan Securities analyst Kevin Su mentioned that the Taiex might need time to consolidate before maintaining a position above 42,000 points. Su noted that with U.S. tech stocks moving higher amid AI optimism, a major pullback was unlikely on the local main board, with the nearest technical support around 41,672 points.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's 2.59 percent surge overnight contributed to gains by Taiwan's counterparts. Su highlighted that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rebounded from a previous slump, suggesting that concerns over Apple potentially shifting orders to Intel were short-lived. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, rose 0.89 percent to close at NT$2,255.00, contributing approximately 160 points to the Taiex's rise. United Microelectronics Corp. surged 10 percent to NT$104.50, and ASE Technology Holding Co. rose 3.35 percent to NT$555.00. Conversely, MediaTek Inc. fell 4.64 percent to NT$3,700.00.
Innolux Corp. jumped 10 percent to NT$35.50 due to improved first-quarter profitability, and rival AUO Corp. also surged 10 percent to NT$20.70. Su noted that the electronics sector attracted about 80 percent of the day's turnover, leaving many non-tech stocks lagging. Formosa Plastics Corp. fell 3.25 percent to NT$47.65, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. decreased 2.62 percent to NT$89.10. Allis Electric Co. and Fortune Electric Co. also saw declines.
The financial sector lost 2.06 percent, with Cathay Financial Holding Co. falling 2.55 percent to NT$76.40 and Fubon Financial Holding Co. dropping 1.88 percent to NT$93.70. Su advised investors to monitor the ongoing earnings season for insights into future index movements, highlighting Nvidia Corp.'s upcoming investor conference on May 20 (U.S. time).
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$30.49 billion of shares on the main board Tuesday.