Taiwan shares end sharply higher ahead of Nvidia’s results
Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved sharply higher by over 600 points Wednesday, led by AI-related stocks amid optimism that U.S. AI chip giant Nvidia Corp. will provide positive results and upbeat guidance at its investor conference later in the day, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s benchmark index, ended up 663.16 points, or 1.47 percent, at 45,832.62 after moving between 44,925.84 and 45,878.39. Turnover totaled NT$804.25 billion (US$25.25 billion), compared with NT$724.26 billion Tuesday.
“The gains enjoyed by tech stocks reflected optimism about AI development on expectations that Nvidia’s results and guidance will be encouraging,” Cathay Futures Consultant analyst Tsai Ming-han said. “Judging by the higher turnover, investors appeared more willing to buy at higher prices.”
After Nvidia shares rose 2.19 percent overnight, the local bellwether electronics index gained 1.47 percent.
“Today’s buying did not concentrate on TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), but spread to a broad range of AI-related stocks, making Wednesday a more balanced session,” Tsai said.
Contract chipmaker TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of the local market’s total value, rose 0.62 percent to close at NT$2,415.00.
Other semiconductor chip stocks attracted stronger buying, with TSMC’s application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design subsidiary Global Unichip Corp. soaring 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$6,125.00, and AIchip Technologies Inc., another ASIC designer, rising 2.46 percent to close at NT$3,960.00.
Meanwhile, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. gained 5.62 percent to end at NT$3,945.00.
Outside the semiconductor industry, other electronics component makers related to AI development also posted significant gains, with Ajinomoto build-up film (ABF) makers Kinsus Interconnect Technology Corp. closing up 5.51 percent at NT$881.00 and Unimicron Technology Corp. ending up 5.94 percent at NT$1,160.00.
Also in the tech sector, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rose 1.44 percent to close at NT$246.50.
Largan Precision Co., a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., surged 10 percent to end at a new high of NT$6,290.00 as it expanded into co-packaged optics (CPO)-related products to tap the current AI boom.
Select old economy stocks also rode the waves of AI development, as Nan Ya Plastics Corp. jumped 10 percent to close at NT$207.00 due to its production of electronics materials for AI applications.
Grand Pacific Petrochemical Corp. also soared 10 percent to end at NT$13.00 amid its efforts to develop semiconductor specialty materials.
Bucking the upturn, Evergreen Marine Corp., Taiwan’s largest container cargo shipper, lost 6.10 percent to close at NT$231.00, while rival Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. tumbled 9.43 percent to end at NT$57.60 on profit-taking.
In the financial sector, which lost 0.32 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. fell 2.12 percent to close at NT$138.50, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended down 0.49 percent at NT$102.50.
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$36.60 billion worth of shares on the main board Wednesday.
