Taipei, Nov. 24 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed little changed Friday on low turnover, which resulted mainly from the absence of foreign institutional investors due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, dealers said.
Except for some IC designers, large-cap tech stocks were lethargic, as investors had no cues from the U.S. markets, which were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, dealers said.
Stocks in the tourism industry, meanwhile, came under heavy pressure, as Taiwan’s two main opposition parties failed to forge a joint ticket against the pro-independence ruling party, which could result in exacerbated cross-strait tensions, dealers said.
The Taiex, the main index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended down 7.13 points, or 0.04 percent, at 17,287.42, after moving between 17,268.38 and 17,336.13. Turnover totaled NT$249.05 billion (US$7.88 billion), compared with NT$287.18 billion in the previous session.
The market opened up 10.10 points and soon moved to the day’s high, rising only 41.58 points in the early morning session. For the rest of the session, trading remained in a narrow range, with heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) appearing lackluster in the absence of any indicators from the U.S. markets, dealers said.
TSMC, a contract chipmaker and the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, lost 0.52 percent to close at NT$575.00, while the electronics and semiconductor sub-indexes fell 0.10 percent and 0.31 percent, respectively.
“It was a quiet session, as the local main board just drifted without any indication from the U.S. markets,” Concord Capital Management analyst Lu Chin-wei said. “As many foreign institutional investors were away for holiday, today’s low turnover meant large tech stocks such as TSMC could not climb out of the doldrums.”
Among the other falling semiconductor stocks, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a smaller contract chipmaker, dropped 0.40 percent to end at NT$50.30, and IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. shed 0.39 percent to close at NT$126.50.
“Some IC designers, led by MediaTek Inc., bucked the downturn, however, helping to cap the losses in the electronics sector,” Lu said, adding that the buying apparently came mostly from local institutional investors.
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek, second only to TSMC in terms of market capitalization, gained 1.61 percent to end at NT$945.00, after several foreign brokerages raised their target prices on the stock.
ShunSin Technology Holdings Ltd, an AI chip-related IC packaging and testing services subsidiary of iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., climbed 2.52 percent to close at NT$162.50, while Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn globally, ended unchanged at NT$101.50.
Meanwhile, tech stocks related to artificial intelligence development largely recouped their earlier losses, with Quanta Computer Inc., a major AI server supplier, closing unchanged at NT$203.50 after coming off a low of NT$200.00.
Wistron Corp., another AI server maker, rose 0.95 percent to end at NT$96.00, while Giga-Byte Technology Co., a leading graphics card vendor for AI applications, closed down 0.64 percent at NT$232.00.
“The stock market movement today was dictated by local political issues,” Lu said. “As the opposition parties failed to forge a joint presidential ticket against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the tourism industry, which wants better cross-strait ties, came under heavy pressure.”
In the tourism industry, which shed 3.17 percent, Chateau International Development Co. lost 8.64 percent to end at NT$64.50, and FDC International Hotels Corp. fell 6.09 percent to close at NT$81.30. Meanwhile, Phoenix Tours International, Inc., ended down 6.82 percent at NT$174.50.
The electric machinery industry, however, gained 2.63 percent, as stocks in that sector benefited from optimism that the DPP would continue to push for a power grid network upgrade if it wins the Jan. 13 presidential election.
In that sector, Chung-Hsin Electric & Machinery Manufacturing Corp., and Allies Electric Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$117.00 and NT$60.60, respectively, and Fortune Electric Corp. surged 8.91 percent to end at NT$275.00.
The financial sector dropped 0.06 percent, although China Development Financial Holding Co. rose 2.45 percent to close at NT$12.55, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 0.62 percent to end at NT$63.90.
“As turnover is likely to remain low without large foreign institutional investors’ participation, I think the Taiex will consolidate for a while before challenging the crucial 17,463 points, the intraday high on July 31,” Lu said.
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$3.44 billion worth of shares on the main board Friday.
