Taiwan surprises as investment winner

Taipei

TAIWAN is proving a surprising investment winner under US President Donald Trump.

The island is home to the only currency in Asia to climb against the resurgent greenback since the US election. Against a backdrop of the new president starting to make good on protectionist trade pledges and signalling a readiness to risk damaging Taiwan's fragile relationship with China, analysts are still optimistic that the territory will see equity inflows in 2017. Foreign investors have pumped US$1.5 billion into local shares this month, helping drive the Taiex to a one-and-a-half-year high and the Taiwan dollar to the strongest since October.

The disconnect amounts to a big bet on Apple Inc. It is up to the technology giant to deliver the iPhone orders that underpin forecasts for a 20 per cent increase in earnings per share on the Taiex in the next 12 months. Taiwan also has Asia…