The TAIEX plunged 1.37 percent yesterday with selling sparked by heavy tech losses in the US at the end of last week amid concerns that US Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh could adopt a more hawkish monetary stance, dealers said.
The TAIEX ended down 439.72 points to 31,624.03 with turnover of NT$740.40 billion (US$23.4 billion).
“The nomination of Warsh has raised fears that the Fed will downsize its balance sheet by withdrawing funds from the market, which caused not only the stock markets, but also gold and silver prices to plunge,” MasterLink Securities Corp (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said.
Photo: CNA
“Many major local market players simply seized the US tech losses as a cause to pocket their recent significant gains ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday,” Tang said, citing a 0.94 percent fall on the tech-heavy NASDAQ index and a 3.87 percent decline on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Smartphone IC designer
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) slid 3.12 percent to close at NT$1,705.00, and memory chip suppliers Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) tumbled 10 percent, the maximum daily amount, to end at NT$294.00 and NT$116.00, respectively.
“Fortunately, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) benefited from late session bargain hunting to recoup part of the TAIEX’s losses,” Tang said.
TSMC, which accounts for more than 40 percent of market value, dropped 0.56 percent to close at NT$1,765.00, off a low of NT$1,745.00.
Elsewhere in the tech sector, artificial intelligence server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) lost 2.72 percent to close at NT$214.50, while cooling solutions provider Asia Vital Components Co (奇鋐科技) bucked the downturn, rising 2.05 percent to end at NT$1,490.00.
In the legacy economy sector, Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) lost 6.34 percent to close at NT$44.30, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) fell 6.98 percent to end at NT$70.60. Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp (士林電機) shed 5.68 percent to close at NT$216.00, and Fortune Electric Co (華城電機) slid 2.89 percent to end at NT$942.00.
Shares in China Steel Corp (中鋼), the largest steel maker in Taiwan, rose 1.69 percent to close at NT$21.10 after it turned a profit in December, and Chun Yuan Steel Industry Co (春源鋼鐵) added 1.62 percent to end at NT$21.90.
In the financial sector, which lost 0.77 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) dropped 0.44 percent to close at NT$90.50, and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) ended down 1.46 percent at NT$74.50.
“Judging from today’s movement, the TAIEX seemed to have technical support ahead of the 20-day moving average of 31,300 points for now,” Tang said.
Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$48.12 billion of shares on the main board yesterday, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.
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