Taiwanese shares yesterday closed at a new high, but gave up most of earlier gains as investors rushed to lock in their significant profits built in recent sessions with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in focus.
The TAIEX closed up 63.78 points, or 0.23 percent, at 27,752.41. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$513.92 billion (US$16.74 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$240.71 million of shares on the main board, the exchange said.
Photo: CNA
Despite the high closing, “investors have turned cautious about a possible major technical pullback after the TAIEX posted gains since US President Donald Trump’s administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs in April,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.
Before yesterday, the TAIEX had soared 10,296.87 points, or 59.21 percent, from the closing level of 17,391.76 on April 9.
“Today’s expanded turnover showed many investors tended to trim holdings now; TSMC was among the targets,” Huang said. “But I prefer to say TSMC’s fundamentals stay sound, while such positive leads have been priced in.”
TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock, closed unchanged at NT$1,480, off a high of NT$1,500, while iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) rose 0.21 percent to close at NT$239.
Elsewhere, most stock markets extended gains yesterday on further signs that US-China trade tensions were easing and as investors looked to corporate earnings.
Tokyo hit another record as Japan swore in new prime minister Sanae Takaichi and brought an end to a period of political uncertainty, while the yen weakened amid higher expectations for a slower pace of interest rate hikes under Takaichi’s government.
Additional reporting by AFP
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS