Share prices closed 0.10 percent lower yesterday in reduced trade due to lingering caution over a still volatile global trading environment, sparked by sharp declines in China, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 7.90 points at 7,670.77, off a low of 7,625.99 and a high of 7,695.15, on turnover of NT$116.59 billion (US$3.54 billion).
"The market took a pause after yesterday's free fall, thanks to signs that [its] international counterparts seemed to have stabilized for now," Mega Securities Corp (
The fact that US equities closed well off lows in the previous session helped underpin local sentiment following a sell-off by foreign investors here on Thursday, he said.
Investors will keep an eye on the US economic outlook while also paying special attention to whether the Chinese markets are about to stabilize or are facing another slump in the near term, he said.
Next week, the market is expected to continue its downside on fragile investor confidence after heavy losses this week, analysts said.
Concerns over further declines in the US and in the region remain in place as investors tend to trim holdings before these markets turn stable, they said.
It is possible for the market to stage limited technical rebounds during trade but selling may follow with small and medium-sized electronic stocks likely to suffer after their large cap counterparts suffered steep falls.
The market is expected to move between 7,500 points and 7,700 points next week, dealers said.
For this week, the weighted index closed down 1.78 percent at 7,670.77 after a 0.64 percent decline in the week to Feb. 14 before the Lunar New Year holidays.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$123.70 billion, compared with NT$82.31 billion.
"The market is technically weak after the index fell below the 60-day moving average at around 7,725 points. Further weakness is possible in a consolidation mode amid worries over market performances abroad," President Securities (統一證券) analyst Johnny Lee said.
Lee said with listed companies due to release their sales results for last month soon, few expect those results will help the market stage a comeback given the reduced number working days because of the holiday.
National Investment Trust (
He expects selling will spread to small and medium sized electronic shares from large high-tech stocks amid sales concerns.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last