Local shares staged a technical rebound yesterday as “Apple concept stocks” moved higher ahead of the cheaper iPhone XR going on sale worldwide later this week, dealers said.
While the bellwether electronics sector was behind the latest rebound, old economy and financial stocks were mixed, with many investors staying on the sidelines, ensuring turnover remained moderate, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 55.02 points, or 0.55 percent, at 9,974.28 points on turnover of NT$100.76 billion (US$3.26 billion).
The market opened down 0.48 percent on follow-through selling from Friday and fell further to the day’s low in the early morning session, but with the main board moving closer to 9,800 points, some bargain-hunters emerged, picking up “Apple concept stocks,” such as chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) to push the broader market back into positive territory by the end of the session.
“Buying of these Apple suppliers reflected optimism over sales of the iPhone XR,” which are due to start on Friday, Xincheng International Investment Consultant (信誠環球投顧) analyst Chang Chih-cheng (張志誠) said.
“Due to its relatively affordable price, the iPhone XR is expected to become the most popular of the three newest iPhone models and that expectation encouraged investors to buy Apple concept stocks,” Chang said.
TSMC rose 0.42 percent to close at NT$237, Largan added 2.64 percent to NT$3,505, while metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co (可成) rose 0.8 percent to NT$315.
Technical resistance remained strong at 10,000 points, so the market was still moving in consolidation mode, despite the gains, Chang said.
“Many investors are reluctant to chase prices for the moment as they remain concerned the [US] Federal Reserve could accelerate the speed of its rate hike cycle with the US economy so strong,” Chang said. “More importantly, investors have been anxiously watching for when foreign institutional investors will resume large buying after recent sell-offs.”
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