Taiwan stocks ended up 0.82 percent on Wednesday after marking their worst daily drop in three weeks in the previous session, as the government's new rules for Chinese investments helped fuel gains in auto and tourism shares. The main TAIEX share index closed 52.59 points higher at 6,485.14. Turnover was active at T$159.8 billion ($4.9 billion), but lower than Tuesday's T$176.5 billion.
"The market is bouncing back from sharp losses yesterday, and some encouraging news from the United States, such as the US housing market might hit a bottom, also helped today's rise," said Karen Lin, a fund manager at Paradigm Asset Management Co. "The regulations on Chinese investments provided mild support since the news had already been priced in during the previous rally," said Lin.
Taiwanese government ministries have agreed to new regulations that will allow the Chinese to invest in the island from June at the latest, in sectors such as autos, textiles, shipping and tourism. The automobile sub-index jumped 4.48 percent, with leading car maker Yulon Motor up 6.46 percent. The tourism sub-index rose 2.59 percent and hotel operator Ambassador Hotel advanced 3.15 percent.
The transportation sub-index rose 2.24 percent, further boosted after news that three major Chinese shipping companies plan to invest in the biggest Taiwanese port in Kaohsiung, a top port official said on Tuesday. The financial sub-index rose 1.06 percent, with Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan's top credit card issuer, ending 1.31 percent higher after it said late on Tuesday it plans to issue up to 2.5 billion shares via a private placement to strengthen its capital base.
In the tech sector, shares of Acer, the world's No 3 PC brand, fell 1.04 percent after its April sales declined from the previous month. "The market's momentum could be capped as visibility in June is still not very clear for many technology companies, and weak April sales also sparked concerns," said Lin. "Recent rises in the Taiwan dollar also created pressure on tech exporters."
Exporters usually prefer a weaker local currency so they can convert their US dollar earnings to more of the Taiwan dollar. TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, rose 1.81 percent, while the broader semiconductor sub-index climbed 1.20 percent, helped by encouraging comments from some sector bellwethers.
The chief executive of Intel Corp said the company's orders and billing patterns so far in the second quarter have been slightly better than expected. Investors are watching closely as equity index provider MSCI Barra is set to announce the results of the May 2009 Semi-Annual Index Review for MSCI Equity Indices on Thursday, with many expecting Taiwan's weighting to be increased.