Taiwan stocks fell 1.02 percent on Monday as Wall Street losses triggered broad selling, with tech heavyweights like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) bearing the brunt of losses.
The TAIEX ended down 65.98 points at 6,380.03 and modest turnover of T$92.68 billion (US$2.9 billion) showed that investors were reluctant to increase holdings after recent gains, inspired by growing optimism of a tech sector recovery.
"The market reacted to the pullback of US stocks but we haven't seen any signs of a big correction because people have growing confidence in the tech industry," said Chiang Chen-sheng, manager at MasterLink Investment Advisory.
The TAIEX ended slightly lower on Thursday after hitting a 15-month intraday high. Taiwan's financial markets were closed on Friday due to a typhoon.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker and the market's most heavily weighted stock, shed 2.38 percent to T$53.40 after its ADRs dropped 1.04 percent on Friday.
Investors also shunned Chunghwa Telecom Co ahead of a government auction of a 3 percent stake in the island's top mobile phone company to domestic investors after the close of stock market trade on Tuesday. Chunghwa shares dropped 3.0 percent to T$61.50.
The selling spread to small-cap cyclicals and financial issues. China Steel Corp, Taiwan's largest steel producer, finished down 2.1 percent to T$28.00 and Taiwan Business Bank, a potential merger target, gave up 1.98 percent to T$12.40.
But companies that have delivered optimistic outlooks for the second half defied weakness in the broader market.
Shares of laptop computer maker Compal Electronics Inc gained 5.56 percent to T$33.20 after the firm last week reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and forecast a 30-40 percent rise in shipments for next year.
Display screen maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, the market's most active issue in terms of volume, rose 2.0 percent to T$43.30.
Chi Mei has said it expects to return to profit again in the third quarter as prices of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) stabilise after falling at a double-digit rate since late last year.
Analysts say the low prices are spurring fresh demand.
Hurt by losses in US peers, the electronics sub-index shed 0.92 percent. Financials, second only to techs for weighting in Taiwan, were off 1.63 percent.
The over-the-counter market's TAISDAQ index edged 0.37 percent lower to 129.21, and August TAIEX index futures fell 1.16 percent to 6,370.
Comments
Comments are closed.