Taiwanese stocks plunged more than 340 points yesterday following the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, as renewed fears over US’ trade policies rattled investor confidence after US President Donald Trump’s on Friday said that China had breached a preliminary trade deal with Washington, and announced double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50 percent.
Trump’s remarks were followed by US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick critizing Beijing for its slow implementation of the deal — an agreement that had previously lifted market sentiment and raised hopes for a durable easing of tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement yesterday that Washington is making “bogus charges” and has “unreasonably accused China of violating the consensus, which is seriously contrary to the facts.”
Photo: CNA
The TAIEX closed down 344.59 points, or 1.61 percent, at 21,002.71, with total turnover reaching NT$344.76 billion (US$11.50 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
The market opened 0.44 percent lower, and losses increased throughout the session, driven by heavy selling in the bellwether electronics sector, in particular among large-cap semiconductor stocks.
Investor sentiment remained subdued amid concerns sparked by Trump’s accusation.
“Global markets remained focused on the tariff issue,” Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) said. “Now, Trump’s comments raised concerns over trade frictions between the top two economies.”
“In Taiwan, investors remain alert over a possible tariff on semiconductors, and that’s why chip stocks came under heavier pressure throughout the session,” Tsai said.
Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted local stock, fell 2.17 percent to close at the day’s low of NT$946, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) appeared more resilient, ending unchanged at NT$1,260.
Also in the electronics sector, iPhone assembler and artificial intelligence (AI) server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) lost 2.24 percent to close at NT$152.5, and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), another AI server supplier, dropped 0.18 percent to end at NT$271.
“The TAIEX fell below the technical support of the 20-day moving average around 22,815 points today, meaning the local main board has became technically weaker,” Tsai said. “As long as the tariff issue remains in place, investors should stay cautious.”
Elsewhere in Asia, most markets sank yesterday as investors brushed off data released on Friday showing the US Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge cooled more than expected last month.
Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai and Jakarta fell along with London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Seoul and Manila were marginally higher, while Shanghai was closed for a holiday.
Additional reporting by AFP
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS