The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. Capitalization Weighted Stock Price Index (TAIEX), the major index of the country’s stock market, hit 12,686.36 points during trading July 27 in Taipei City before closing at 12,588.3 points, up 2.31 percent from the day before.
 
According to statistics released by TWSE, both figures are the highest on record since the index was first launched in 1967. Total turnover was NT$252.4 billion (US$8.55 billion) for the day.
 
Electronics and semiconductor manufacturing companies were the best performers on the index. Of these, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. based in the northern city of Hsinchu was the catalyst behind the TAIEX’s new high.
 
The price of the world’s largest contract chipmaker soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at a record high NT$424.5 per share, with 103.32 million shares changing hands during the day. Market analysts said TSMC’s share price rally is due to the July 23 announcement by U.S. semiconductor heavyweight Intel Corp. that the release of the company’s central processing units developed using a 7-nanometer production node has been delayed by six months.
 
Following the announcement, TSMC’s American Depository Receipts, which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, soared 9.7 percent on market speculation that Intel will start contracting orders to the Taiwan firm.
 
Latest financial reports show that TSMC’s revenues totaled NT$310.7 billion in the second quarter of the year, up 28.9 percent from 2019, with net profits surging 81 percent over the same period. The company said it is expecting similar results for the coming quarter. (SFC-E)
 
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