Shares ended slightly lower yesterday, as declines in technology heavyweights more than offset gains in some old-economy blue chips.
The TAIEX closed down 8.76 points, or 0.1 percent, at 6,193.62.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 468 to 387 with 146 stocks unchanged.
"The main bourse mostly teetered around the break-even point throughout the session, sandwiched between weak tech heavyweights and a few rising non-tech shares," said Jeffrey Cheng, an analyst at Yuanta Core Pacific Capital Management (
The technology subindex fell 0.3 percent, with chip stocks leading the decline after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 1.3 percent overnight in the US.
Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
Concern that flat-panel makers will post losses through next year also weighed down share prices.
Leading panel maker AU Optronics Corp (
Analysts said the pullback in tech heavyweights implied foreign investors had slowed their buying of local shares.
"But it's still too early to say overseas investors have started withdrawing their money from the Taiwan market," Cheng said. "One thing's for sure though, the buying streak is on the wane."
Dealers said other factors also hindered market participation, including concerns about China passing an "anti-secession law" at its annual legislature, which starts this weekend.
Until that issue is resolved, the market is likely to see rotational plays amid concerns over the appreciation of the NT dollar and its possible impact on exports, an analyst said.
"Political factors and anticipation of further rises in the Taiwan dollar -- which dampened market sentiment this week -- might linger, but smaller caps will still attract buyers," said Daniel Tseng (
The export-oriented electronics industry could suffer given the appreciation of the local currency but the loss could be offset by the gradual recovery of the global economy in the next few months, Tseng said.
But Cheng said that investors were more interested in chasing companies that have announced high dividend yields.
On the local bourse, handset stocks were among the tech sector's best performers on expectations multinational cellphone companies will accelerate subcontracting manufacturing to Taiwanese suppliers, analysts said.
Shares in Arima Communication Corp (
Petrochemical stocks gained 0.6 percent overall.
Formosa Plastics Corp (
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure