Stocks dropped for the second day in three yesterday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) declined on concern the company's rally this year was excessive compared with gains in the benchmark index.
The TAIEX lost 37.01, or 0.6 percent, to 5,887.23. About twice as many stocks fell as rose. The Taiwan Futures Index shed 1.1 percent to 5,905.
Turnover was NT$56.92 billion (US$1.67 billion). Decliners outnumbered risers 491 to 258, while 181 issues ended the session unchanged.
TSMC fell NT$2, or 3.2 percent, to NT$61. The world's biggest supplier of made-to-order semiconductors has climbed 55 percent this year, compared with a 32 percent gain in the benchmark index.
Rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC,
"The electronics sector is entering the traditional slow season in the first quarter. The overnight slump in the US semiconductor stocks battered their local counterparts," said Michael Hsu, assistant vice president at Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (
"The uncertainty surrounding merger prospects in the financial sector also kept investors at bay," he added.
Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (中華映管), the nation's third-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, gained NT$0.10, or 0.7 percent, to NT$14.95. The company forecasts net income will jump by more than nine times next year from this year. The company expects to earn net income of NT$8.23 billion next year, and has forecast NT$874 million in profit this year.
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