Local shares yesterday fell 1.16 percent on investor concern that US President Donald Trump could take a harder line on trade against Beijing after the Republicans lost the US House of Representatives to the Democrats, dealers said.
Large-cap stocks in the bellwether electronics sector led the downturn, amid worries that more electronics produced by Taiwanese companies in China would be hit if the US were to impose tariffs on an additional US$267 billion of goods from China as planned, they said.
The TAIEX fell 115.30 points to 9,830.01, on turnover of NT$101.752 billion (US$3.3 billion).
The electronics sector tumbled 1.33 percent, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), which closed down 2.33 percent at the day’s low of NT$231, with 23.2 million shares changing hands.
“Taipei is not the only market in the region moving lower today, which showed that trade friction remains a concern to many investors region-wide,” MasterLink Securities Corp (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said, referring to Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
“After the GOP [‘Grand Old Party,’ Republican Party] lost the House, the market is widely anticipating that Trump will take a tougher line against China on trade issues,” Tang said. “The chances of Trump and [Chinese President] Xi Jinping (習近平) reaching any agreement in the upcoming G20 meeting has been reduced.”
“The third round of tariffs imposed by Washington, if it turns out to be true, will inevitably affect more electronic devices, such as notebook computers and smartphones, so investors here simply dumped their tech holdings today,” he added.
iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) closed down 0.65 percent at NT$76.1, and Largan Precision Co (大立光), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, lost 3.75 percent to NT$3,080.
In the financial sector, Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) closed 0.94 percent lower at NT$26.45, while Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) rose 0.2 percent to close at NT$51.1 and Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) finished 0.39 percent higher at NT$51.1.
The financial sector as a whole ended only 0.27 percent down, outperforming the broader market.
Dealers said that resilience might be due to support from government-led funds that many believe are trying to prop up the stock market to help the government ahead of the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
Among old-economy stocks, Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑) lost 0.98 percent to close at NT$101, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) finished 2.09 percent lower at NT$117 and textile maker Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀) shed 2.67 percent to close at NT$30.95.
“Today’s selloff pushed the TAIEX below the 20-day moving average of 9,868 points and more losses are possible as investor mood was hit by unfavorable circumstances,” Tang said.
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