Taiwan Stocks Open Higher as MSCI Adjustments Boost Tech Shares, TSMC Leads with Over 600-Point Gain

Taiwan's stock market opened higher today (August 13) as tech-heavy stocks surged, with the benchmark index briefly climbing above 46,000 points. The market saw a rapid rise of over 650 points in early trading, with a gain of more than 1.4%. Tech stocks led the rally, including TSMC (2330-TW), which saw significant gains. The market also benefited from passive component stocks and memory stocks included in MSCI's latest quarterly adjustments, with the index provisionally reported at 46,142.97 points, up 1.36% or 619 points. Today's estimated turnover was 1.45 trillion NTD.

MSCI announced its latest quarterly adjustments, increasing the weight of Taiwan stocks across three major indices. In the MSCI Taiwan Index, six new stocks were added: Nan Ya Plastics (2408-TW), Hua Bang Electronics (2344-TW), Chunghwa Picture Tubes (8299-TW), Nan Ya Plastics (8046-TW), Taiyo Yuden (6274-TW), and Chinsun (3189-TW). The new weights will take effect at the close of trading on August 31.

In terms of heavyweight stocks, TSMC (2330-TW) opened higher by 30 NTD, reaching 2,445 NTD, up more than 1%. MediaTek (2344-TW) rose 6% after a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund increased its holdings, while Pegatron (2327-TW) hit the daily limit. Delta Electronics (2308-TW) rose by half a limit, while Foxconn (2317-TW) fell 2.2%, and Quanta Computer (2382-TW) rose 0.92%.

Financial stocks performed weakly, with E.Sun Financial (2880-TW) down 7%, Cathay Financial (2886-TW) down 4%, and Mega Financial (2891-TW) down 1.65%.

Driven by sustained AI demand, passive component stocks reported strong July sales, which was reflected in their stock performance. In addition to Pegatron (2327-TW) hitting the limit, Lite-On Technology (3624-TW), Chiyoda (2375-TW), and Hsinchu Advanced Technology (2492-TW) also hit the limit. MiTAC (8043-TW) and Kinpo Electronics (8042-TW) saw gains of more than 7%.

Additionally, due to MSCI's latest quarterly adjustments, new memory stocks such as Nan Ya Plastics (2408-TW) rose 8%, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (8299-TW) rose 1.36%, and Hua Bang Electronics (2344-TW) rose 3.11%. Newly added ABF stocks such as Chinsun (8299-TW), Nan Ya Plastics (8046-TW), and Taiyo Yuden (4746-TW) fell 2-3%.

Analysts noted that Taiwan's stock market is maintaining a short-term bullish trend, but with continued low trading volume, the index is expected to remain in a bullish consolidation. Individual stock performance will vary as themes rotate. Investors can refer to short-term technical moving averages for a bullish trading strategy. For thematic stocks, attention should be paid to optical communication, fiber, semiconductor chain, copper concepts, boards, and robotics.

In U.S. stock market performance on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.58 points or 0.04%, closing at 53,770.27 points; the Nasdaq rose 143.04 points or 0.54%, closing at 26,588.49 points; the S&P 500 rose 20.3 points or 0.26%, closing at 7,748.5 points; and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 300.9 points or 2.49%, closing at 12,399.38 points.