Under the push of the artificial intelligence (AI) wave, the Taiwan stock market saw a significant rise in the first half of 2024, becoming the best-performing market in the Asia-Pacific region so far this year.
Since the beginning of the year, the Taiwan Stock Exchange has been showing strong upward momentum. According to CNBC, the Taiwan Weighted Index has surged by 28% year-to-date. High-profile companies such as TSMC saw their stock prices rise by 63% in the first half of the year, while Foxconn’s stock price rose by 105% in the same period.
CNBC reported that Rahul Ghosh, a global equity portfolio expert at asset management firm T. Rowe Price Group, stated in the company’s investment outlook, “The performance of the global markets this year is largely driven by AI and central bank policy issues, and this situation may continue.”
Japan’s benchmark index, the Nikkei 225, ranks second in the Asia-Pacific region. The index has repeatedly surpassed historical highs earlier this year. In the first six months of the year, the Nikkei Index rose by approximately 18%.
The Nikkei Index broke a 34-year record in February, surpassing the historical high set on December 29, 1989 (38,915.87 points). Subsequently, the index surged to the psychological level of 40,000 points, ultimately setting a new historical closing high on March 22 (40,888.43 points).
While Taiwan may be leading the Asian markets, analysts interviewed by CNBC believe that Japan seems to be the most popular market for the future.
Ghosh stated that improving corporate governance standards continue to have a significant and practical impact on corporate performance in Japan. In addition, Ben Powell, Chief Asia-Pacific Investment Strategist at the BlackRock Investment Institute, pointed out in a report on June 14 that the Bank of Japan’s confidence in achieving its inflation target is steadily increasing, leading to a “gradual and cautious normalization of monetary policy.”
Powell stated that Japan’s macroeconomic backdrop is favorable for risk assets. With strong corporate reform momentum, healthy profits, and valuation support from still negative real interest rates, “we continue to increase our holdings in Japanese stocks.”