Taiwan shares rebound, end above 17,200 points
The bellwether electronics sector led the upturn in the wake of strong bargain hunting taking advantage of a correction suffered by large tech stocks in the week's previous sessions, while large cap old economy stocks appeared mixed, as market attention focused on their tech counterparts, the dealers said.
The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended up 290.64 points, or 1.71 percent, at the day's high of 17,285.00, after coming off a low of 17,032.23. Turnover totaled NT$452.57 billion (US$16.21 billion).
The market opened up 0.22 percent in the wake of an all-time high enjoyed by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which rose 0.93 percent overnight, and buying on the local main board accelerated as bargain hunters rushed to pick up tech stocks, in particular in the semiconductor sector, on the back of a 0.77 percent rebound staged by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, the dealers said.
Friday's rally helped the Taiex to overcome technical resistance ahead of the five-day moving average of 17,056 points and the 20-day moving average of 17,170 points.
"Led by tech stocks on the U.S. markets, buying returned to the electronics sector, in particular among semiconductor stocks, which had been battered earlier this week," Hua Nan Securities analyst Lu Chin-wei said.
"So, as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) climbed out of its previous doldrums, the entire electronics sector, as well as the broader market, just followed," Lu said.