The TAIEX ended moderately lower yesterday amid high expectations that the National Financial Stabilization Fund’s (國安基金) management committee will decide to withdraw the fund from the stock market during its last meeting before a new committee is appointed on April 22, dealers said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 31.41 points, or 0.37 percent, at 8,531.18 on a turnover of NT$80.62 billion (US$2.49 billion).
The market opened down 1.38 points, but rose to the day’s high of 8,613.56 on a mild technical rebound, but selling followed, focusing on small or mid-cap sectors, which pushed the index down into negative territory as investors cut their holdings late in the trading session.
The food, steel, plastics and financial sectors outperformed the broader market, rising 4.27 percent, 1.51 percent, 0.11 percent and 0.02 percent respectively.
Taiwanese mobile device vendor HTC Corp (宏達電), which yesterday launched its new flagship handset for this year, the HTC 10, in Taiwan, London and New York simultaneously, closed 3.45 percent lower at NT$81.2, with 70 million shares traded.
There are several factors that could affect the market in the short term, including the release of US corporate financial statements in the coming week and the first quarter earnings conferences to be held tomorrow by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and smartphone camera maker Largan Precision Co (大立光), dealers said.
The effect of monetary data that is to be announced on April 17 after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting is also expected to cause the market fluctuations, they said.
In related news, aggregate sales by the nation’s publicly listed companies during the past quarter fell 4.8 percent annually to NT$6.38 trillion, data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
As the nation’s exports continued to contract, 473 listed companies posted declining sales, while 352 reported gains, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
The majority of companies who reported revenue growth are in the financial and insurance, biotechnology and electronics modules distribution sectors, while performance by optoelectronics, oil and gas and steel companies weakened due to sagging demand, it added.
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