The Taiex closed up 38.83 points, or 0.41% at 9,307.26 on turnover of US$1.87 billion on Dec. 31.
Transportation sector extended its gains after international crude oil prices fell to their lowest level in more than five years overnight.
At 11:18am on Dec. 31, the transportation sub-index had risen 1.28% to 90.70 on the Taiex, while the broader market’s weighted index had lost 0.04% to 9,265.16.
Evergreen Marine Corp (TPE: 2603) had gained 1.81% to US$0.71, while Yang Ming Transport Corp (TPE: 2609) had gained 0.9% to US$0.56.
Meanwhile, China Airlines (CAL)(TPE: 2610) gained 3.21% to US$0.48 and EVA Airways (EVA)(TPE: 2618) had risen 2.09% to US$0.73.
While the international crude oil prices tumbling for the second consecutive day, the prices for West Texas Intermediate in the U.S. and Brent crude in the Europe fell 1.7% and 2%, at one point overnight to their lowest levels in five and half years. The downtrend resulted from a forecast made by the American Petroleum Institute that U.S. crude oil inventories could rise about 800,000 barrels to 387.3 million barrels.
Yuanta Investment Consulting said that fuel costs account for 40% to 45% of airlines’ operating costs and 20% of shippers’ operating costs. Yuanta said that for every 1% fall in crude oil prices, the profits for EVA, CAL, Evergreen and Yang Ming will rise 1.2%, 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.3%.
To compare with the figures on the last day for 2013, the Taiex is up 695.75 points or 8.08% with a total value of US$77 billion. Each investor earned an average of US$8,267 during the past year, while there are a total of 9.43 million registered investors for the Taiex.
