TAIPEI: Taiwan Shares in Taiwan rose slightly on Tuesday, helped by gains in the financial sector that helped overcome a flat performance by the bellwether electronics sector and low turnover.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up 24.24 points, or 0.25 percent, at 9,669.41 after moving between 9,649.62 and 9,724.36, on turnover of NT$79.15 billion (US$2.59 billion).
Financial shares rose 1 percent on the day while electronics stocks edged 0.08 percent higher.
Cathay Financial Holdings closed 1.65 percent higher at NT$55.30, Yuanta Financial Holdings gained 2.31 percent to close at NT$17.70 and Mega Financial Holdings rose 1.87 percent to close at NT$27.20.
It was the second day in a row that turnover fell below NT$80 billion, in sharp contrast to the massive liquidity pouring into China’s stock markets and driving benchmark indexes there to new highs.
Stocks that preformed relatively well in other sectors were those whose valuations were considered low or that had declined in recent days.
Analysts warned that if turnover on Taiwan’s market continues to remain low, then shares could stay within a narrow range or tumble lower.
But institutional investors said the current earnings season will soon give way to the shareholders meeting season and then the peak seasons for many industries in the second half of the year, and mostly positive leads are expected.
That rosy outlook along with the solid fundamentals of Taiwanese companies and the high liquidity in Taiwan’s financial markets could help the Taiwan stock exchange’s benchmark index challenge 10,000 points in the second half of the year once the consolidation in the second quarter comes to an end, they said.
