Taiwan share prices closed little changed yesterday amid a note of caution ahead of corporate results but local companies with exposure to the booming Chinese market outperformed, dealers said.
They said that after recent gains, investors now appear content to wait for company results to give them their next lead.
"Guidance on corporate earnings is having a tremendous impact on investors," said Kevin Yang, chief investment officer at Paradigm Asset Management Co.
The weighted index edged up 2.39 points at 7,842.47, off a low of 7,784.21 and a high of 7,871.01, on turnover of NT$116.90 billion (US$3.56 billion).
Stanley Hsu, a manager with First Taisec Securities (一銀證券), said rangebound consolidation is likely to continue until companies begin to report their fourth quarter and full-year 2006 results and guidance for the year ahead.
However, local companies with exposure to the China market will continue to outperform, he said.
"Riding on the rally in the China market, investors have built portfolios in local firms which ... will reap profits from operations on the mainland," Hsu said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), Taiwan's second-largest maker of memory chips, added NT$0.15 to NT$12.70. Last Saturday ProMOS signed an investment agreement with the authorities of Chongqing city in central China to build a semiconductor plant.
RSS