《TAIPEI TIMES》 TAIEX rises despite local outbreak as shares of container shippers climb

SURGE: Transactions in the shipping sub-index made up 37 percent of all transactions, which an investor said indicated a shaky structure of market participants

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

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The TAIEX yesterday gained 0.22 percent to 16,338.29 points, despite rising numbers of locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the nation over the weekend.

“The surging cases weighed on the stock market, but it was offset by investors’ passion for container shipping stocks, given strong freight rates and local shippers’ rosy profits last quarter,” Hua Nan Securities Investment Management Co （華南投顧） chairman David Chu （儲祥生） said by telephone.

Investors would not be rattled if the daily number of new cases continues to hover between 200 and 300 this week, Chu said, adding that panic selling could emerge if the daily number surpasses 700.

Transactions in the shipping sub-index totaled NT$159.56 billion, making up 37 percent of overall transactions yesterday and becoming the second-highest among all sub-indices after electronics’ NT$159.73 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

Evergreen Marine Corp （長榮海運）, the nation’s largest container shipper by fleet size, was the most actively traded stock, with turnover of NT$62.24 billion. Its shares rose 2.01 percent to NT$86.4, up 93 percent so far this year, the data showed.

Transaction volume for shares of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp （陽明海運） and Wan Hai Lines Ltd （萬海航運） was NT$60.59 billion and NT$15.6 billion respectively.

Yang Ming shares yesterday rose 1.42 percent to NT$93.1 and Wan Hai gained 9.65 percent to NT$125. So far this year, Yang Ming shares have surged 189 percent and Wan Hai shares rose 118 percent.

Chu said he does not expect transactions of shipping stocks to continue outweighing that of electronics stocks, as Taiwan’s economy is centered around the electronics sector.

“The fact that yesterday’s transactions focused on shipping stocks indicates a shaky structure of market participants,” Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise Co’s （保德信投信） fund manager Bevan Yeh （葉獻文） said in a statement.

Yeh advised investors to wait for developments on the local outbreak.

However, there is no ground for the TAIEX to weaken, as last month’s export orders performed better than expected by advancing 42 percent year-on-year, and strong demand for mobile phones and 5G devices would continue to benefit local firms in the technology sector, Yeh said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES