Taiwanese share prices could soon rebound slightly after closing 1.57 percent lower yesterday, in line with losses on international bourses last week while the TAIEX was closed for the six-day Lunar New Year holiday, analysts said yesterday.
"If Wall Street continues to climb, the TAIEX could reflect that gain and see an upturn as early as [today] ... with a high of about 7,800 points within a week," Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券) assistant vice president Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.
He said the TAIEX's 1.57 percent decline yesterday still outperformed the US market, which dropped 4 percent in the past 10 trading days.
The TAIEX closed down 120.69 points to close at 7,553.30, after moving in a range of 7,530.37 to 7,619.98. Turnover was NT$113.63 billion (US$3.55 billion).
Decliners led risers 1,353 to 585, while 268 stocks were unchanged.
A total of 85 stocks closed limit-down and 44 were limit-up.
The financial sector was down 1.6 percent and the textile sector down 0.88 percent.
The tourism sector was up 6.41 percent as investors welcomed news of the arrival of 700 Chinese tourists.
The cement sector was up 5.64 percent, the construction sector was up 4.72 percent, the food sector was up 2.37 percent and the plastics and petrochemical sector was up 1.11 percent.
"Some sort of knee-jerk reaction to the losses on Wall Street and other markets following the Lunar New Year holiday is perfectly understandable," said Arch Shih, an analyst at Taiwan International Securities (
He said the bellwether technology sector was particularly hit by worries that companies relying on the US market for export orders would suffer in the event of a US recession.
Although many non-technology firms defied the negative undertone, their near-term fate was subject to how Chinese markets perform when they resume trade today, he said.
"Many of our old-economy industrials have shown resilience mainly on expectations that Taiwan will ease regulations on cross-strait interchanges," Shih said. "But further fallout from China's snow storm would surely spoil the mood."
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) was down NT$7 at NT$165 despite reporting higher for last month sales.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) closed down NT$1.40 at NT$60 and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) was down NT$0.35 at NT$16.95.
High Tech Computer (
Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華酒店) gained NT$25 to NT$387 and Ambassador Hotel (國賓飯店) rose NT$2.90 to NT$44.75. Both were limit-up.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”