TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's benchmark stock index staged a dramatic recovery on Wednesday (Feb. 4), closing up 94.45 points at 32,289.81 after plunging more than 250 points in early trading. The Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index (TAIEX) fell below the 32,000-point mark to 31,942.28 points before rebounding sharply, eventually rising over 180 points to reach 32,380 points during the session. Trading volume reached NT$685.398 billion (around US$21.7 billion).
U.S. tech giants' poor performance on Tuesday negatively impacted Wall Street indices, causing turbulence at the opening of the Taipei stock market. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電), the world's largest contract chipmaker, ended the session down NT$15 (around US$0.48) at NT$1,785 (around US$56.52), a 0.83% decrease. Foxconn (鴻海) rose NT$2.5 (around US$0.08) to NT$219 (around US$6.94), while MediaTek (聯發科) increased NT$5 (around US$0.16) to NT$1,800 (around US$57).
The printed circuit board sector showed strong momentum, with Elite Material (台光電) breaking the NT$2,000 (around US$63.33) barrier. The stock closed at the limit-up price of NT$2,040 (around US$64.60), setting a new historical high. The memory sector also gained ground, with Winbond (華邦電) rising about 3%, and Nanya Technology (南亞科) and Macronix (旺宏) both increasing over 6%. The gains reflected renewed investor interest in semiconductor-related stocks.
Panel stocks, including Innolux (群創) and AUO (友達), hit the limit-up, reaching NT$23 (around US$0.73) and NT$15.15 (around US$0.48), respectively. Despite volatility, ASPEED (信驊) briefly turned positive during trading, achieving a new high of NT$9,855 (around US$312.07) before closing down 1.53%. The market closed with 33 "thousand-dollar stocks," shares priced above NT$1,000 (around US$31.67), setting a new record and demonstrating continued enthusiasm for high-priced stocks.