Taiwan’s Taiex eyes 10,000 as Apple suppliers hit records

Hon Hai? More like Hon high.

Taiwan’s stock market is closing in on the 10,000-point mark and its dotcom-era peak thanks to the record run of its two biggest stocks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Hon Hai Precision Technology.

Shares in both TSMC and Hon Hai (also known as Foxconn) rose on Wednesday to record highs, brushing off a 1 per cent decline in iPhone sales during the March quarter for their major client Apple.

The pair, as the Taiex’s biggest index weightings, and other Apple suppliers have been instrumental in driving the equities benchmark 7.5 per cent – or 700 points – higher this year and to within 20.1 points of the 10,000-point mark.

TSMC, with a market capitalisation of $170bn, carries a 17.5 per cent weighting in the Taiex, and is up 8.8 per cent so far this year. Foxconn, at about a third of the size, is up a sprightlier 20 per cent in 2017 and is the next biggest component of the Taiex with a 6 per cent share.

The Taiex was up 0.1 per cent in lunchtime trade on Wednesday, but gained as much as 0.4 per cent this morning to 9,979.91. The previous time the benchmark traded above 10,000 points was on April 28, 2015, but the previous close above that level was on April 11, 2000.

The Taiex struck a closing high of 10,202.7 on February 17, 2000 at the peak of the dotcom bubble.

Foxconn was up 1 per cent to Tw$101, having closed in triple digits for the first time on Tuesday. TSMC was up 0.5 per cent at a record Tw$197.50.

Pegatron, a major iPhone assembler, is sitting 1.3 per cent below its April record high, while FLEXium Interconnect, a maker of flexible circuit boards, is sitting 1.3 per cent lower than a peak hit in July 2015.