Taiex advances in anticipation of more orders
Dec 10, 2004
Taiwan shares ended higher yesterday, with the island's two major motherboard makers up on hopes of more orders from China's Lenovo Group after it acquires IBM's computer business, analysts said. The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up 21.46 points, or 0.4 percent, at 5,913.97. The value of shares traded totaled NT$63.81 billion (US$1.97 billion), with 356 stocks ending up, 278 down and 203 unchanged. Among the day's top gainers were motherboard makers EliteGroup and Micro-Star, after Lenovo said Wednesday it would buy IBM's personal computer division for US$1.75 billion. The companies supply motherboard products to both Lenovo and IBM and are likely to remain suppliers of the combined company. EliteGroup surged 6.9 percent to NT$17.1 and Micro-Star rose 6.8 percent to NT$20.4. Lenovo is likely to put in more orders to Taiwanese electronic manufacturing services, Fubon Securities analyst Mark Wu wrote in a report. In contrast, shares in Wistron, a PC supplier to IBM, dropped 1.8 percent to NT$13.5. Financial stocks gained 0.5 percent overall, with government-linked lenders among the most traded. Suspected intervention
Government funds are suspected of intervening late in the session to reverse a drop in the index and keep it in positive territory ahead of tomorrow's legislative elections, traders said. Government-controlled Mega Financial rose 0.5 percent to NT$21.5 and Hua Nan Financial added 0.4 percent to NT$27.5. Union Bank jumped 4.2 percent to NT$11.3, after it outbid three other institutions to buy Chung Shing Bank for NT$7.11 billion (US$219.92 million). The acquisition more than doubles Union Bank's branch network to 86. Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.2 percent to NT$48.2. It said shortly after the market closed that its November revenue totaled NT$20.99 billion (US$649.32 million), up from NT$18.51 billion (US$572.59 million) in the same month last year, but down on-month for a third month in a row. AU Optronics, the world's third-largest panel maker, gave up early gains to end 0.5 percent lower at NT$41. Rival Chunghwa Picture Tubes gained 1.1 percent to NT$13.3.
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