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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 TAIEX ends Year of Rabbit up 21.18％
A woman walks past an electronic stock board at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
BIG COMPANIES: TWSE-listed stocks’ capitalization rose 23.04 percent to NT$57.52 trillion, compared with NT$46.75 trillion at the previous Lunar New Year’s close
By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter, with CNA
The TAIEX yesterday closed up 0.2 percent, or 36.14 points, at 18,096.07, finishing the Year of the Rabbit up 21.18 percent, or average gains of NT$857,500 （US$27,331） for individual investors, Taiwan Stock Exchange （TWSE） data showed.
The exchange is to be closed from today to settle accounts and observe the Lunar New Year holiday, and trading resumes on Thursday next week, the TWSE said.
It is the second consecutive year of increases for TAIEX after a bearish showing in 2022, when local shares were hit hard by sharp global inflation and monetary tightening, the data showed.
TWSE-listed stocks’ capitalization soared 23.04 percent, or NT$10.77 trillion, to NT$57.52 trillion, from NT$46.75 trillion at the close ahead of the previous Lunar New Year on Jan. 17 last year, the exchange said.
The showings suggest that individual investors, about 12.56 million in Taiwan, reaped an average profit of NT$857,500, it said.
Demand for semiconductors and artificial intelligence （AI） products underpinned the rallies, as global investors bet on a recovery in technology products and fast-growing AI applications, Allianz Global Investors Taiwan （安聯投信） said.
The exchange opened down 12.53 points yesterday and remained below the previous day’s close in the early morning session until buying of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co （TSMC, 台積電） shares accelerated toward the end of the session, closing up 1.73 percent, which helped the market enter positive territory.
Electronics stocks rose 0.64 percent, with server makers Wistron Corp （緯創） increasing 3.75 percent, Quanta Computer Inc （廣達） 0.79 percent and Inventec Corp （英業達） 0.36 percent.
“Without TSMC, the TAIEX would have fallen today,” Mega International Investment Services Corp （兆豐國際投顧） analyst Alex Huang （黃國偉） said. “With the US dollar regaining its footing, foreign institutional investors have refrained from buying. I suspect TSMC buying largely came from government-led funds to sustain the TAIEX above 18,000 points.”
Turnover amounted to NT$315.9 billion after foreign institutional players cut holdings by a net NT$6.17 billion, while mutual funds and proprietary traders shed a net NT$2.48 billion and NT$804.92 million from their previous portfolios respectively, TWSE data showed.
Position adjustments reflected a cautious approach ahead of the week-long holiday, rather than a shift in recovery expectations, analysts said, citing declines in several large-cap non-tech and financial stocks.
For the past 25 years, the TAIEX closed up 15 times and down five times at the close before the Lunar New Year, TWSE data showed, as local tech shares have gained increasing importance on the world stage.
“Judging from the TAIEX performance in recent sessions, the 18,000-point level seemed to become the main board’s technical support,” Huang said. “I expect momentum on the US markets will continue due to a strong earnings season so the local index is likely to keep moving higher as investors return from the holiday.”
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
