Taiwan share prices closed 0.11 percent firmer in quiet trade on Monday, with an early technical rebound after Friday's sharp losses failing to make much headway in a cautious market, dealers said. They said trade was quiet, with investors unwilling to take any risks even though many of the regional markets continue to forge ahead.
There is some concern over what stand foreign investors will take after Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) upgrades the country's weighting in its indices, effective from the close Tuesday.
Foreign investors have until recently been solid buyers ahead of the MSCI move but there has been some profit-taking on the resultant gains and some believe that could continue or even pick up.
The weighted index closed up 6.61 points at 5,785.26, off a low of 5,756.41 and a high of 5,812.17, on turnover of 59.89 billion Taiwan dollars (1.86 billion US).
Decliners led risers 397 to 238, with 146 stocks unchanged.
A total of 27 stocks closed limit-down and three limit-up.
The steel sector gained 1.7 percent, outperforming the broader market on a still positive outlook for the industry well into 2005.
The paper sector was up 1.65 percent, textiles rose 1.04 percent, plastics/petrochemicals 1.0 percent and cement added 0.46 percent.
The construction sector was down 0.78 percent, food fell 0.69 percent, electronics 0.2 percent and financials shed 0.13 percent.
The Taiwan dollar was 32.159 to the US dollar, compared with the previous close of 32.095.
"We had quite a boring session as there were simply no decisive factors to dictate a better performance," said Yuanta Core Pacific Securities assistant vice president Oliver Fang.
Fang said what foreign investors do after the MSCI weighting hike will be important.
At the same time, a note of caution is likely to build up further with just less than two weeks to go before Taiwan's parliamentary polls on December 11, when pro-independence parties are expected to do well.
China Steel closed up 0.50 Taiwan dollar at 35.20, Chung Hung Steel up 0.70 at 21.00 and Kao Hsing Chang was limit-up 0.95 at 14.75.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was down 0.30 at 46.90 and United Microelectronics Corp flat at 20.00.
Flat-panel makers attracted some bargain hunting, while DRAM suppliers retreated further on still weak spot prices.
AU Optronics was up 1.00 at 41.70 and Chi Mei up 0.90 at 40.00.
Powerchip was down 0.70 at 21.30 and ProMOS down 0.15 at 12.50.
Chunghwa Telecom added 0.50 at 62.50 after reports that the government is set to sell a further 17 percent stake in the company in the first half of 2005.
Taiwan Glass was up 0.50 at 29.20 after reporting 10 months to October results.
Taiwan Co-operative Bank was down 0.40 at 27.10, marking the first correction since its November 17 debut.
Comments
Comments are closed.