Taiwan shares boosted by U.S. rally, end above 15,600 points
Shares in Taiwan got a boost from an overnight rally in markets in the United States to close more than 1.4 percent higher Wednesday amid further signals that the U.S. Federal Reserve may ease off on its interest rate hikes, dealers said.
The bellwether electronics sector attracted most of the attention and drove the gains throughout the session, while old economy and financial stocks were mixed, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, ended up 217.26 points, or 1.41 percent, at 15,618.17 after moving between 15,520.05 and 15,631.22. Turnover totaled NT$225.66 billion (US$7.5 billion).
The market opened up 0.89 percent following a 0.78 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 1.9 percent rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index Tuesday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell commented that inflation had started to slow, dealers said.
Buying in the local semiconductor sector continued to the end of the session, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), more than offsetting weakness in steel, petrochemical and financial stocks, they said.
"Semiconductor heavyweights returned to the spotlight today as investors seized on the gains in the U.S. after Powell's remarks," Concord Capital Management analyst Lu Chin-wei said.
"Although Powell's comments were pretty much the same as what he said after the Fed's last policymaking meeting (ending on Feb. 1), bargain hunters responded positively to them and jumped into the market." Read More…
