Shares in Taiwan yesterday extended momentum from a session earlier to close higher, but trading volume was reduced substantially on a lack of aggressive presence by foreign institutional investors, dealers said.
Taipei was the only market in the world to open yesterday, when many foreign institutional investors were away for weekend, in a bid to make up for a lost trading session during the Double Ten National Day holiday from Saturday next week to Oct. 10, the dealers said.
Select stocks in the Apple Inc supply chain staged a rebound, led by iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), lending support to the broader market, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came off an early high on profit-taking, they said.
The TAIEX yesterday ended up 54 points, or 0.52 percent, at 10,383.94 after moving between 10,362.55 and 10,400.40, with turnover totaling NT$53.52 billion (US$1.77 billion). It had closed at 10,449.68 on Sept. 22, a weekly decrease of 0.6 percent.
The market opened up 0.32 percent on follow-through buying from a session earlier, and strength continued, led by the bellwether electronics sector, as some of the major Apple concept stocks bounced back from heavy losses caused by concern over sales of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, two of the three latest iPhone models, the dealers said.
Many consumers have reportedly put their replacement plans on hold, waiting for the premier iPhone X, preorder sales of which are not scheduled to start until Oct. 27.
Some analysts said shipments of the iPhone X could be affected by a shortage of components.
“Today’s buying was sparked by bargain hunters who sought cheap electronics stocks, in particular among Apple concept stocks,” KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) analyst Phil Chu (朱有志) said. “As foreign institutional investors shifted to the buy side yesterday, sentiment among local retail investors improved to some extent today, and they became more willing to buy.”
After a net sell of NT$4.48 billion of shares on the main board by foreign institutional investors on Friday, they recorded an additional NT$322 million in net buy yesterday. The reduced net buy resulted from the absence of many foreign institutional investors for the weekend.
Among the gaining Apple suppliers, smartphone camera lens producer Largan Precision Co (大立光) rose 0.84 percent to end at NT$5,375, Hon Hai gained 1.9 percent to close at the day’s high of NT$107 and metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) added 4.42 percent to end at NT$295.
TSMC, which is the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, closed unchanged at NT$216.50 on profit taking, after hitting a high of NT$218.50. The stock’s early gains reflected a plan to build an advanced 3-nanometer fab in Tainan to maintain a lead over its peers in the global market.
Led by a rebound staged by Apple concept stocks, the bellwether electronics sector closed up 0.67 percent, dominating yesterday’s session, Chu said.
Buying also spread to certain non-high-tech stocks, with Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) up 2.17 percent to close at NT$376.50 and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) rose 0.4 percent to end at NT$75.
Meanwhile, China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽保險) gained 1.23 percent to close at NT$28.90.
“Investors had better watch closely how the [New] Taiwan dollar will move against the US dollar to determine whether foreign investors will move their funds out of the country at a time of a rate hike cycle in Washington,” Chu said. “Depleting liquidity is the last thing investors want.”
On Friday, US President Donald Trump’s long-awaited tax cut plans buoyed most Asia-Pacific exchanges, extending global gains, but a rise in the yen held back Japan’s benchmark index.
The broad rise from Shanghai to Sydney came on the back of Trump unveiling proposals that included cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent.
His market-friendly promise to reduce taxes, ramp up infrastructure spending and slash red tape helped drive a global rally in the months after his election win in November last year.
However, those gains fizzled as Trump’s legislative agenda suffered a series of blows and the White House has become embroiled in a host of crises.
Chinese markets rose on Friday, with Shanghai ending the day 0.3 percent higher at 3,348.94, falling 0.1 percent from a close of 3,352.53 on Sept. 22.
South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI on Friday gained 0.9 percent to close at 2,394.47, an increase of 0.2 percent from 2,388.71 a week earlier.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong added 0.5 to end trading at 27,554.30, dropping 1.2 percent from 27,880.53 on Sept. 22.
In Japan, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 edged 0.03 percent lower to close at 20,356.28 on Friday, investors were largely unmoved by broadly upbeat data, including better-than-expected factory output, as a stronger yen dented sentiment.
The Nikkei 225 closed at 20,296.45 on Sept. 22, a weekly gain of 0.3 percent.
A pickup in Japan’s currency hits the profit outlook for major exporters, including automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd, which hurts demand for their shares.
“The weakness in the yen that supported Japanese stocks has slowed,” Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities Group Inc in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
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