Share prices closed 0.51 percent lower yesterday, after bargain-hunting cut losses triggered earlier by concerns over domestic political uncertainty and the US interest rate outlook, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 33.87 points at 6,556.33, after trading between 6,454.71 and 6,587.46, on turnover of NT$76.05 billion (US$2.32 billion).
After the market's early losses, "investors hunted for bargains among [companies] with bright earnings prospects," said Alvin Teng (鄧可欣), assistant vice president with SinoPac Securities (建華證券).
Some consumer electronics stocks, in particular, attracted interest with their positive prospects ahead of the Christmas shopping season.
Teng said political concerns will be limited if an opposition threat of an indefinite sit-in protest to oust President Chen Shui-bian (
Otherwise, analysts said the risk of any violent confrontation during the protest may still create political uncertainty that could hang over the market in the short term.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) closed off NT$0.15 at NT$18.40, despite news that it acquired NT$30.50 million shares of ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技) at an average price of NT$12.94 each. ProMOS gained NT$0.10 to NT$12.75.
China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) fell NT$0.10 to NT$12.45 despite news that Standard Poor's has revised the outlook on the company's long-term counterparty credit ratings to "positive" from "stable."
Chunghwa Telecom Co (
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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