Taiwan: Stocks up as Hon Hai's shares surge on strong Q4 profits

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Wednesday lifted by the 8 per cent surge in shares of Hon Hai Precision, the world's largest contract electronics maker and a key Apple Inc supplier.

As of 0150 GMT, the main Taiex index rose 1.1 per cent, to 9,915.13 points, after closing down 0.4 per cent on Friday. Taiwan's financial markets where shut Monday and Tuesday for public holidays.

The electronics subindex rose 1.6 per cent, while the financials subindex gained 0.2 per cent.

Shares in Hon Hai, which goes by the trade name of Foxconn, were up 8 per cent, after posting a surprising 30 per cent rise in net profit for the fourth quarter of last year, defying expectations for a decline.

Hon Hai's strong profit gain came mainly due to solid bookings for the bigger-sized iPhone 7 Plus models, analysts said.

The next iPhone iteration, iPhone 8, due for launch later this year, will benefit Hon Hai this year, Yuanta Investment Consulting said. It set Hon Hai's share 12-month target price at NT$108, implying a more than 10 per cent upside compared to around NT$97 now.

The Taiwan dollar softened NT$0.045 to NT$30.381 per US dollar.

REUTERS