Shares in Taiwan closed higher on a technical rebound Friday after U.S. markets rallied overnight, dealers said.
Large semiconductor stocks primarily drove the gains, but buying was also seen in the shipping and biotech sectors, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, ended up 152.39 points, or 1.05 percent, at 14,705.43 after moving between 14,620.27 and 14,742.79. Turnover totaled NT$193.02 billion (US$6.3 billion).
The market opened up 0.46 percent and its momentum continued, especially among semiconductor heavyweights, after a 2.67 percent increase on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and a 1.13 percent rise in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index on Thursday.
That interest pushed up the local semiconductor sub-index by 2.05 percent by the end of Friday's session, and the overall electronics sector rose 1.34 percent.
Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, rose 2.12 percent to close at NT$481.50, and its gains contributed about 85 points alone to the Taiex's rise.
"Today's gains were largely technical in nature after the heavy losses in the local stock market in the past few sessions in line with its U.S. counterparts," Mega International Investment Services Corp. analyst Alex Huang.
"Market sentiment remained cautious due to worries over a recession in the United States because of large rate hikes by the Federal Reserve."
Before Friday's rebound, the Taiex had fallen 427.70 points, or 2.85 percent, in the previous three trading sessions.
"TSMC again led the rebound, but the stock is expected to see stiff technical resistance ahead of NT$500.00 amid lingering worries that the global semiconductor industry will be hurt by inventory adjustments due to weakening demand," Huang said.
After the market closed, TSMC reported a 50.2 percent year-on-year increase in consolidated sales in November to NT$222.71 billion, the highest monthly total in the company's history.
Interest in TSMC spread to other semiconductor stocks.
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. closed 3.40 percent higher at NT$729.00, IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. finished 2.58 percent higher at NT$99.50, and United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, ended 2.35 percent higher at NT$43.50.
Global Unichip Corp., TSMC's application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design subsidiary, gained 4.06 percent to end at NT$794.00.
In the electronics sector, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rose 0.49 percent to close at NT$102.00, while Largan Precision Co., a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc., fell 2.45 percent to end at NT$2,190.00.
Huang said the transportation sector got a boost from a rebound in the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which gauges freight fares of bulk cargo shippers and rose 1.99 percent.
Among major bulk cargo shippers, U-Ming Marine Transport Corp. rose 3.05 percent to close at NT$47.25, and Tze Shin International Co. gained 2.59 percent to end at NT$13.85.
Container cargo shippers also attracted buying, with Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. closing 2.95 percent higher at NT$62.80, and Evergreen Marine Corp. ending up 2.32 percent at NT$154.50.
Elsewhere in the old economy sector, Formosa Plastics Corp. rose 0.69 percent to close at NT$87.90, and textile brand Far Eastern New Century Corp. added 0.61 percent to end at NT$33.20.
Boosted by a better earnings outlook, drug developer Chunghwa Chemical Synthesis & Biotech Co. surged 8.24 percent to close at NT$23.00, and test kit supplier Panion & BF Biotech Inc. soared 6.51 percent to end at NT$180.00, with the biotech index up 1.32 percent.
In the financial sector, which underperformed the broader market, finishing 0.38 percent higher, Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 0.88 percent to close at NT$57.50, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 0.86 percent to end at NT$41.10.
CTBC Financial Holding Co. closed down 0.44 percent at NT$22.70.
"As a barometer of the Fed's policy, the November U.S. consumer price index (CPI) (due on Dec. 13) is expected to move the markets," Huang said.
"More importantly, the upcoming Fed's policymaking meeting (to end on Dec. 14) is worth watching because it will offer clues on what might happen to rates next year."
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$6.26 billion in shares on Friday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel