TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's stock market opened higher Friday and fluctuated throughout the session, buoyed by strong performances from Nvidia and TSMC's American Depositary Receipt.
An ADR is a certificate issued by a US bank representing shares of a foreign company, known as American Depositary Shares. This mechanism allows US investors to access shares of international companies that might otherwise be unavailable.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index, TAIEX, closed up 76.24 points at 22908.3. Turnover totaled NT$330.39 billion (US$10 billion), per CNA.
Tech giants Apple and Tesla declined on the first trading day of the year for the US stock market, while Nvidia rose 3%, and TSMC’s ADR gained 2.07%. Taiwan's tech sector reflected mixed results, with TSMC closing up NT$10 at NT$1,075 and MediaTek rising more than 1%, but Foxconn slipping 0.82%.
AI server-related stocks rallied, with Quanta Computer surging 3.21%. Wistron, Wiwynn, Asus, and Gigabyte all gained over 2%.
Nvidia’s upcoming GB300 release spurred activity, as proprietary traders purchased over NT$82 million of Nvidia-linked stocks, according to post-market trading data, per Yahoo stock. Proprietary trading refers to a securities firm using its own money, instead of clients' funds, to trade stocks and make profits.
Four major US cloud service providers, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta, have raised capital expenditures, according to TrendForce. This will benefit Taiwanese Original Design Manufacturers such as Foxconn, Wistron, Quanta and Inventec.
Robot-themed stocks saw mixed results with Aurotek surging to its limit-up price and Hota Industrial Mfg, Axiomtek, Tongtai, and Taiwan Chelic ending higher. Selling pressure weighed on Hiwin Microsystem, Apex Dynamics, Canon, and Asia Optical, pushing their prices lower.
Major printed circuit board manufacturer Global Brands Manufacture reportedly entered Google's supply chain, hitting a limit-up price. The company recently announced plans to acquire Japanese printed circuit board maker Lincstech for NT$8.4 billion.
Known as the “mother of the electronics industry,” PCBs are essential for assembling and operating all electronic devices. They are created by meticulously planning and etching complex copper wiring to link components on a board.