Share prices closed down 1.12 percent yesterday in reduced trade following Wall Street's sharp falls overnight amid mounting concerns over inflation, dealers said.
They said the technology sector was also hit by a report that companies will be required to start declaring employee bonuses as an expense in their financial results from next year.
The weighted index closed down 82.49 points at 7,278.96 on turnover of NT$127.72 billion (US$4.07 billion). Decliners led risers 468 to 369, with 92 stocks unchanged.
A total of 10 stocks closed limit-down and 50 limit-up.
"The big decline on Wall Street triggered a knee-jerk reaction here, at a time when the local bourse was expected to experience a hiatus anyway," said Alex Huang (黃國偉), an assistant vice president at Barits International Securities (倍利國際).
It makes perfect sense for local shares to consolidate recent gains as the index approaches technical resistance at its 24-day moving average, he said.
Huang said foreign investors became somewhat cautious after their extended buying spree over the past month.
But "the fact that our market did not lose as much ground as regional counterparts indicates they would not call it a day yet," he said, adding that "downside support could readily emerge at 7,200 points."
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) closed down NT$1.70 at NT$64.90 and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) was down NT$0.40 at NT$20.60.
MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) dropped NT$14.50 to NT$400.00 and High Tech Computer Corp (宏達電子) fell NT$75 to NT$1,085.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS