Taiwan stocks rose 0.79 percent to a 1-1/2 year closing high on Thursday, led by gains in export-reliant technology companies including Acer after solid export orders pointed to a recovery in global trade. Taiwan's export orders in November rose 37.11 percent from a year earlier, suggesting demand for Asian exports was maintaining a healthy recovery in the fourth quarter and that global trade was on the mend.
The main TAIEX share index climbed 62.04 points to 7,963.54, its strongest close since late June last year. Turnover rose to T$142.5 billion ($4.4 billion) from Wednesday's T$118.4 billion.
"The economy is gradually recovering and the outlook for some companies, such as Acer, is brighter because of growing technology demand," said Alvin Teng, an assistant research manager with Sinopac Securities. "The consumer price index and the consumer confidence index seem to be rising in the United States as the economy recovers. Once the jobless situation in the country improves, people will start buying technology products again."
Acer Inc, the world's No 2 PC brand, jumped 3.15 percent, while Hon Hai Precision, the world's biggest electronics parts maker, rose 3.11 percent. The broader electronics sub-index was up 0.9 percent. A solid performance by technology stocks in the United States following Micron's stronger-than-expected results also helped boost DRAM stocks in Taiwan.
"The rising price of DRAM chips is the main reason US stocks rose yesterday, which helped boost technology shares in Taiwan today," said John Chiu, vice-president with Fuh Hwa Securities Investment Trust. DRAM chip maker Powerchip rose 3.89 percent after larger rival US Micron's shares jumped 6.16 percent on Wednesday.
PC-related stocks also climbed, with Quanta, the world's largest contract laptop PC maker, up 1.16 percent, while smaller rival Inventec rose 2.41 percent. Both companies would sign an agreement to build production facilities in Chongqing soon, sources told Reuters on Thursday, with the aim of supplying to top PC brand HP. AU Optronics was up 0.26 percent after its chairman was quoted by a local newspaper as saying the company expected to begin production at a new facility earlier than scheduled.