TSMC and MediaTek Lead Taiex Rally as AI Demand Lifts Electronics
Taiwan's benchmark index rose 1.14% on heavy electronics buying, with TSMC adding 0.81% and MediaTek surging 6.37% on AI infrastructure demand.
Key points
- Taiex rose 1.14% to 47,718.84 with turnover of 820.22 billion NT$, driven by AI infrastructure demand.
- TSMC closed at NT$2,480.00 (+0.81%) and MediaTek at NT$5,010.00 (+6.37%), leading the semiconductor rally.
- Foreign institutions bought a net NT$20.38 billion in shares, while financial stocks rose on rate hike expectations.
The Taiex index closed Monday at 47,718.84, gaining 538.09 points or 1.14 percent, driven by strong demand for semiconductor and electronics hardware. Trading volume reached 820.22 billion New Taiwan dollars, reflecting renewed investor confidence in the technology sector following recent gains in U.S. markets.
This upward movement was primarily fueled by continued capital allocation toward artificial intelligence infrastructure by major cloud providers. Despite the Federal Reserve signaling a potential interest rate increase, market participants prioritized growth in AI-related hardware, leading to a broad rally in domestic tech stocks.
Semiconductor leaders drive index gains
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which represents over 40 percent of the market's total value, closed at NT$2,480.00, up 0.81 percent. This performance contributed approximately 160 points to the overall index rise, underscoring the company's dominant influence on market direction.
MediaTek also performed strongly, closing at NT$5,010.00 after a 6.37 percent increase. Investors showed particular interest in the company’s development of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), viewing these efforts as a strategic move to capture opportunities in the emerging AI era.
Other ASIC designers like AIchip Technologies also benefited, with shares rising 3.53 percent to NT$3,665.00. In contrast, memory chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp. ended the session down 1.71 percent at NT$516.00, highlighting the selective nature of the sector's performance.
Component makers react to industry news
Delta Electronics surged 8.07 percent to close at NT$1,875.00, while flat panel manufacturer AUO Corp. hit the 10 percent daily limit to end at NT$33.35. The jump in AUO shares followed reports of planned cooperation with Intel Corp. in advanced integrated circuit assembly services.
Hon Hai Precision Industry, a major iPhone assembler and AI server maker, bucked the trend by sliding 0.20 percent to NT$250.00. Its affiliate, connector manufacturer Cheng Uei Precision Industry, rose 6.20 percent to NT$44.55, showing mixed results within the broader electronics supply chain.
Financials and foreign buying activity
The financial sector rose 0.82 percent, supported by expectations that higher interest rates would increase income for lenders. Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 2.66 percent to NT$154.50, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. climbed 2.26 percent to NT$113.00.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of NT$20.38 billion in main board shares on Monday, according to data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Dealers noted that falling crude oil prices also improved general market sentiment, although geopolitical risks in the Middle East remain a factor to monitor.
