Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed little changed Tuesday as investors decided to unload some of their holdings after an initial upturn driven by a U.S. market rebound overnight, dealers said.
The semiconductor industry stabilized the broader market, with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in focus ahead of an investor conference Thursday that will offer third quarter results and fourth quarter guidance, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s benchmark weighted index, ended down 9.69 points, or 0.06 percent, at 16,642.55 after moving between 16,618.30 and 16,770.64. Turnover totaled NT$274.06 billion (US$8.48 billion).
The market opened up 0.16 percent, and the Taiex was soon pushed to the day’s high on momentum created by a 0.93 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 1.20 percent rise in the tech heavy Nasdaq due to a fall in international crude oil prices, dealers said.
Soon after, investors started to sell shares and lock in profits almost across the board, and the selling escalated in the afternoon to send the Taiex into negative territory.
TSMC, the most heavily weight stock in the local market, remained resilient, closing 1.10 percent higher at NT$551.00 to keep the index from falling further.
Its gains alone added 50 points to the Taiex and helped the electronics index and semiconductor sub-index close 0.18 percent and 0.80 percent higher, respectively.
“Inventory adjustments have hurt the global semiconductor industry in the first nine months of the year. Many investors are hoping that TSMC will deliver positive leads for the fourth quarter and for 2024 on Thursday,” MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said.
Tang suggested that government-led funds may have helped prop up TSMC shares after the stock’s recent consolidation.
Among other semiconductor stocks, United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, rose 2.23 percent to end at NT$48.20, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 1.79 percent to close at NT$825.00.
Global Unichip Corp., TSMC’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design subsidiary, fell 1.75 percent to end at NT$1,685.00.
“Tech stocks related to artificial intelligence development came off their earlier highs today as has happened in recent sessions as investors appeared anxious ahead of Nvidia’s third quarter results,” Tang said, referring to the leader in AI chips.
In the computer and peripherals sector, which fell 1.50 percent, AI server maker Wistron Corp. lost 3.37 percent to close at NT$94.70, while rival Quanta Computer Inc. ended unchanged at NT$221.50, off a high of NT$226.50.
Giga-Byte Technology Co., a leading graphics card vendor for AI applications, lost 1.51 percent to close at NT$261.50, and Lite-On Technology Corp., a maker of power management solutions for AI server use, shed 3.10 percent to end at NT$109.50.
Also in the electronics sector, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., second to TSMC in terms of market capitalization, closed down 0.47 percent at NT$106.50 before a Tech Day event slated for Wednesday, while Delta Electronics Inc., a major power management solution provider, shed 1.08 percent to end at NT$321.50.
“While the semiconductor industry continued to dominate the main board, supporting the Taiex, old economy and financial stocks seemed to be marginalized, largely attracting little attention,” Tang said.
In the old economy sector, Formosa Plastics Corp. lost 0.50 percent to close at NT$79.90 and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. ended down 0.15 percent at NT$66.00 after a fall in crude prices.
Meanwhile, Chung-Hsin Electric & Machinery Manufacturing Corp. shed 2.44 percent to close at NT$100.00, and Teco Electric & Machinery Co. lost 2.65 percent to end at NT$47.75 on profit-taking.
In addition, airline stocks continued their falls from a day earlier, with EVA Airways down 2.36 percent to close at NT$26.85 and China Airlines down 1.50 percent to end at NT$19.70.
In the financial sector, which lost 0.29 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. fell 0.55 percent to close at NT$45.25, while Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 0.49 percent to end at NT$61.30.
“In addition to TSMC’s investor conference, investors should also closely watch the military conflict between Israel and Hamas, which could move global markets,” Tang said.
“I expect the Taiex will continue to fluctuate between 16,500 and 16,800 in the near future.”
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$4.39 billion in shares on the market Tuesday.
