Taiwan shares fell on concern that a three-week, 21 percent rally in the benchmark index has pushed stock prices to the limit of fair values, given the outlook for corporate profits.
Electronics shares such as United Microelectronics Corp, which fueled the recent rally, turned mixed or lower yesterday.
The benchmark TWSE index fell 47.18, or 0.6 percent, to 8226.15, retreating from an early session gain of as much as 141 points. Within the index, 116 shares gained, 264 declined and 54 were unchanged.
``The index yesterday rose and fluctuated near the 8,300 resistance level with foreign and local investors were buying, but today people are concerned that semiconductor shares are a bit overheated recently, so there was more profit-taking,'' said Kevin Pi, head of international equity sales at China Securities Co.
Trading turnover remained strong at NT$162 billion (US$5.1 billion), about 18 percent higher than the daily average during the past three months.
The September TWSE Index futures contract fell 74 points to 8352. The OTC Index shrugged off the main board's decline, rising for a fourth day by 0.54 percent to 184.51.
The following is a list of large capitalization shares that are active. Stock symbols are in parentheses after the company name.
Semiconductor companies, which led the index rally in recent weeks, were mixed, with some falling on concern their prices had overshot fair values. United Microelectronics Corp.lost NT$2, or 2.4 percent, to NT$81.50, and was the most actively traded share by value. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Taiwan's largest listed company by market capitalization, fell NT$0.5, or 0.36 percent, to NT$138.50, after earlier touching a record high of NT$142.
Mosel Vitelic, a memory chip maker, rose by the maximum daily 7 percent limit, up NT$2 to NT$31.50. Macronix International rose NT$2.1, or 5.5 percent, to NT$40.20.
Taiwan's so-called new banks, established earlier this decade, were active after many reported August pretax profits.
Bank SinoPac fell NT$0.8, or 4.0 percent, to NT$19.40. It said pretax rose 38 percent on year to NT$181 million. Taishin International Bank was unchanged at NT$20.40. It said pretax profit rose 31 percent on year to NT$215 million. Fubon Commercial Bank rose NT$0.1, or 0.7 percent, to NT$15. It said pretax profit rose 4 percent on year to NT$153 million.
The largest banks fell. ``Banks won't see any positive news about earnings performance, and mergers not going to take place anytime soon,'' said China Securities' Pi. China Development Bank fell NT$1, or 1.7 percent, to NT$56.50. Hua Nan Commercial Bank fell NT$1.5, or 2.8 percent, to NT$52.50.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, which assembles chips for TSMC and Motorola Inc, climbed NT$0.5, or 0.5 percent, to NT$101.50 after it said August sales rose 44 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.61 billion.
Asustek Computer fell NT$8, or 2.3 percent, to NT$342. An analysis of money flow shows the share's 3.6 percent gain during the past month was accompanied by a net weighted outflow of money of NT$378 million, more than any other Taiwan stock, suggesting large investors are selling into rallies.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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