After fears of an escalating trade war between China and the US caused volatility in global markets last week, the local stock market is counting on listed companies’ first-quarter sales reports and business updates to provide some resilience against external uncertainties, analysts said.
In light of a more than 2 percent decline in the three main Wall Street indices last week, the TAIEX might test the half-year moving average of 10,774 points today, when the market resumes trading after a three-day closure for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday last week, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) quoted Boryi Chien (簡伯儀), a senior manager at Cathay Securities Co (國泰證券), as saying yesterday.
The TAIEX last week ended 0.9 percent lower than the previous week at 10,821.53 points, with an average daily turnover of about NT$109.77 billion, lower than NT$113.23 billion in the preceding week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Several heavyweight local companies — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and the four major units of Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) — are to release their quarterly sales results this week.
Twenty-four listed companies are to open the earnings season, with handset camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光), contact lens maker Ginko International Co (金可國際), solar wafer supplier Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶), semiconductor wafer maker GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) and others to release their latest financial results and shed light on their business outlook.
The Ministry of Finance is today to release the foreign trade data for last month, which are likely to show a substantial rebound in exports from February, when outbound shipments were affected by the Lunar New Year holiday, as well as a widening of the trade surplus, market watchers said.
However, developments in the US-China trade row, geopolitical risks and the outlook for US technology stocks would be key determinants of the local stock market in the second quarter, Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise Co (保德信投信) said, according to a report by the Central News Agency on Saturday.
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) also advised investors to place more weight on risk than reward in the belief that reducing holdings is sensible for investors in an environment of rising uncertainty, especially rising trade protectionism.
“For investors that need to maintain their holdings, a more balanced approach — i.e., increasing dividend plays — could at the very least reduce risks,” Yuanta Securities regional head of research Vincent Chen (陳豊丰) said in a recent note.
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