The TAIEX closed below the 10,000-point mark yesterday as the bellwether electronics sector suffered losses, led by large caps such the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), dealers said.
Investors were watching whether foreign institutional investors would continue to move funds to Taiwan to give an additional boost to local share prices and help the TAIEX remain above 10,000 points, dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 14.66 points, or 0.15 percent, at 9,986.82, after moving between 9,961.37 and 10,008.25 on turnover of NT$92.04 billion (US$3.05 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The market opened down 0.20 percent on a technical correction from gains posted on Thursday, when the TAIEX closed above the 10,000-point mark for the first time in 17 years, dealers said.
The TAIEX continued to move in a narrow range as several market heavyweights retreated, with many investors locking in their gains and pushing the weighted index below 10,000 points for the rest of the session, they said.
“TSMC, the most important indicator, failed to move higher, so the broader market paused for the moment,” Ta Ching Securities Co (大慶證券) analyst Andy Hsu (許博傑) said.
Hsu said yesterday’s turnover was not big enough for the weighted index to post a gain, since many investors stayed on the sidelines, watching whether foreign investors would invest more funds in the local market.
TSMC fell 0.72 percent to close at NT$206.00, with 25.01 million shares changing hands.
Led by TSMC’s downturn, the electronics sector closed down 0.38 percent and the semiconductor sub-index closed 0.48 percent lower.
“The selling of TSMC was not intolerable at all today. The market remained upbeat about the chipmaker’s outlook, in particular as Apple Inc is expected to launch its next-generation iPhones later this year,” Hsu said.
TSMC is believed to be supplying the A11 processor for new iPhones.
Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), an assembler of iPhones and iPads, lost 1.44 percent to close at NT$102.50 as investors pocketed earlier gains.
The stock hit an early high of NT$105.00 early yesterday morning following the company’s announcement on Thursday that it would issue a NT$4.5 cash dividends for last year, the highest dividend in the company’s history.
In the mixed old economy sector, Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) shares fell 0.87 percent to close at NT$57.00, while Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥) shares fell 1.45 percent to close at NT$34.05. China Steel Corp (中鋼) shares rose 0.42 percent to close at NT$23.90.
As many large-cap shares on the main board stayed in the doldrums, buying shifted to small caps on the over-the-counter market.
Outperforming the TAIEX, the TPEX closed up 0.33 percent at 131.74 yesterday.
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