TAIPEI: Taiwan shares continued to climb Friday, breaching 8,000 points by mid-morning, as investors were encouraged by a strong rebound on Wall Street overnight, dealers said.
Buying was seen across the board, in particular in the bellwether electronics sector, which was got a boost from soaring high-tech stocks on the U.S. market, dealers said.
The petrochemical sector also climbed, pushed by an increase in international crude oil prices overnight, they said.
As of 11:07 a.m., the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange had risen 2.33 percent to 8,006.58 on turnover of NT$61.44 billion (US$1.91 billion). The electronics sub-index was up 2.51 percent, while the petrochemical sub-index was 3.92 percent higher.
“Wall Street posted strong gains for the second consecutive session Thursday. That is very encouraging to the global equity markets, including Taiwan,” Hua Nan Securities analyst Kevin Su said.
“Judging from the current buying on the local main board, I think investors are relieved to see a more stable Wall Street at the moment.”
Su said the strong gains on Wall Street — up nearly 1,000 points in two days — largely reflected the United States’ better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) data for the second quarter, which eased worries over the global economy.