The TAIEX pulled back yesterday from a rally in the previous session, amid cautious sentiment toward Taiwanese suppliers in the Apple Inc supply chain ahead of the US company’s quarterly results, dealers said.
The bellwether electronics sector trended lower due to the weakness of local Apple suppliers, led by smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) and metal casing producer Catcher Technology Co (可成), and kept the broader market below the previous closing level, dealers said.
Selling also spread to the financial sector and select old economy stocks, dealing another blow to the index, while turnover remained thin ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policymaking meeting that was scheduled to begin later in the day, dealers said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 44.04 points, or 0.5 percent, at 8,701.32, after moving between 8,662.77 and 8,733.53. Turnover totaled NT$88.11 billion (US$2.7 billion) during the session.
The market opened down 0.23 percent and fell to the day’s low as investors took cues from a weaker Wall Street, where Apple shares came under heavy pressure overnight, dealers said.
Selling focused on Apple’s local suppliers and spilled over to financial and old economy stocks, pushing the index below the 8,700-point mark until bargain hunting emerged and boosted the market above that level by the close, dealers said.
“Investors appeared reluctant to chase prices today after yesterday’s [0.82 percent] gain,” Marbo Securities Investment Consulting analyst Chang Chih-cheng (張智誠) said. “Many investors preferred to wait for the release of Apple’s results and its guidance before taking their next step.”
Apple shares fell 3.2 percent overnight after Dialog Semiconductor, one of Apple’s suppliers in the US, gave a weaker outlook for the current quarter, despite the launch of the latest iPhones.
Hit by the downturn of Apple shares overnight, Largan, the most expensive stock in Taiwan, fell 0.98 percent to close at NT$2,530, and Catcher dropped 5.12 percent to end at NT$324.5.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), an assembler of iPhones and iPads for Apple, fell 0.11 percent to close at NT$88.6, and Pegatron Corp (和碩), which assembles the iPhone 6s, ended 2.42 percent lower at NT$80.8.
The electronics sub-index closed down 0.61 percent, but smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) bucked the downtrend, rising 1.81 percent to end at NT$78.9 after the company reported good preorder sales for its latest HTC One A9 in the local market.
In related developments, the latest version of Apple TV was released yesterday in more than 80 markets, including Taiwan, where it can be bought on Apple’s Web site.
The fourth-generation Apple TV sports Siri virtual assistant support with deep search functionality, a dedicated App Store and onboard storage.
Users will be able to query Siri via an all-new touchpad remote control with embedded microphone and motion sensors.
Apple TV is being sold at NT$5,490 (US$170) for a 32GB model and NT$7,290 for a 64GB model.
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