Taiwanese shares yesterday closed flat in thin trade, as many foreign institutional investors were away for the Christmas holiday break, dealers in Taipei said.
Large-cap stocks on the main board remained in the doldrums, while small-cap stocks on the over-the-counter (OTC) market appeared more active, dealers said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up 4.43 points, or 0.05 percent, at 9,218.50, after moving between 9,197.13 and 9,228.65. Turnover was NT$38.967 billion (US$1.23 billion), the lowest since Jan. 19, 2009, when it fell to NT$35.69 billion.
However, the OTC market outperformed the main board, rising 0.71 percent to close at 139.38 points on trading volume of NT$20.46 billion.
The main board opened up 0.09 percent and moved in a range of about 31 points throughout the unusual Saturday session, which was an extra workday to make up for a holiday on Jan. 2.
“The low trading volume was expected,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang said. “The Taipei equity market was the only one in the world open today, which meant there were no leads from neighboring markets.”
“In addition, without major foreign institutional buying in this holiday season, we’ve had another quiet and boring session today,” Huang said.
The bellwether electronics sector closed up 0.02 percent, failing to lend any significant support to the broader market.
Among the large-cap tech stocks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the market, fell 0.36 percent to end at NT$138.50.
Also in the electronics sector, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc, added 0.45 percent to close at NT$88.40, while Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s largest IC packaging and testing firm, fell 1.06 percent to end at NT$37.30 after it decided to shelve an overseas bond sale plan.
Among the large-cap non-tech stocks, Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) dropped 0.42 percent to close at NT$71, while food maker Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) ended unchanged at NT$49.40.
Solar cell maker Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) was one of the smaller stocks on the OTC market to post gains, rising by the maximum daily 7 percent to close at NT$48.15 after the announcement of its merger with Topcell Solar International Co (聯景光電).
“I expect the slow period will continue into next week and until foreign institutional investors return after the New Year holiday,” Huang said.
Meanwhile, in the currency market, the US dollar yesterday closed flat against the New Taiwan dollar at NT$31.750, amid low trading volume as Taiwan’s foreign-exchange market was the only one in the world open, dealers said.
A slight drop of the US dollar during the session was cushioned by the local central bank, despite selling in the greenback by Taiwanese exporters in exchange for NTdollars to meet year-end fund demand, dealers said.
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