Taiwan's chip stocks are rallying sharply, and UMC (聯電) is the standout winner — good news for its nearly one million shareholders and for anyone with long positions in Taiwan's market.

• Taiwan's stock index jumped nearly 900 points Friday to a new high above 47,000, led by the two big chip foundries and memory makers.
• Institutional investors poured in heavily, buying a net NT$116 billion of stocks in a single day.
• UMC has been bought by all three groups of big institutional investors for three straight days, with buying ballooning Friday to over 42,000 lots.
• That pushed UMC up three days in a row, from the high 130s to the mid 150s — a 12.6% gain on very heavy trading volume.
• Investment trusts also piled into EVA Air, PharmaEssentia, Nanya Technology, Powerchip, AUO and Wistron.

Outlook: With big money still chasing chip and memory names, the rally has momentum, but a jump this fast in three days leaves UMC open to a quick pullback if institutions start taking profits.