Shares in Taiwan recouped early losses and closed above the 13,000-point mark Tuesday, led by the bellwether electronics sector, as buying was ignited by gains seen in other regional markets, dealers said.
But market sentiment still remained cautious as investors stayed cautious ahead of a two-day policymaking meeting of the United States Federal Reserve scheduled to open later Tuesday amid concerns of more aggressive interest rate hikes, dealers said.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s weighted index, ended up 87.46 points, or 0.68 percent, at 13,037.21 after moving between 12,907.61 and 13,062.90. Turnover totaled NT$153.82 billion (US$4.78 billion).
The market opened down 0.13 percent and soon dipped to the day’s low as investors reacted to losses on U.S. markets overnight, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.39 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index fell 1.03 percent, dealers said.
The Taiex soon got a boost from the strength of other regional markets, however, in particular Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which saw Chinese tech stocks such as Internet giant Tencent Holdings soar on expectations that the Chinese government will buy a stake in the company, dealers said.
“The local market still lagged behind the U.S. markets so investors here simply seized on the gains of tech stocks on the Hong Kong market as a cause to pick up bargains,” Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said.
In addition to Hong Kong, share prices in Shanghai also moved higher, with dealers saying many “China concept stocks” were boosted by the better-than-expected Caixin manufacturing activity data in the Chinese market, dealers said.
“In Taiwan, IC designers drew lots of market attention after they got battered by fears over rising interest rates, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) also left its early losses behind by the end of the session,” Huang said.
Among the gaining fabless IC suppliers, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. rose 1.53 percent to close at NT$599.00 after coming off a low of MT$590.00.
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Alchip Technologies Ltd. soared 4.16 percent to end at NT$676.00, and power management IC designer Silergy Corp. surged 4.95 percent to close at NT$392.50.
After hitting a low of NT$386.00, TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, rose 0.38 percent to end at NT$391.50 on late session buying, while United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, lost 0.13 percent to close at NT$39.05.
Also in the electronics sector, which rose 0.49 percent, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. lost 0.98 percent to close at NT$101.50 on reports that some of its workers walked away from its plant in Zhengzhou in central China after a COVID-19 outbreak led to a lockdown.
The Zhengzhou factory mainly rolls out iPhones.
“The Taiex also managed to climb out of its earlier weakness because of the financial sector moving higher on valuations that investors thought were attractive,” Huang said.
As a whole, the financial sector, ended up 1.22 percent overall, and Huang singled out CTBC Financial Holding Co. as big mover. CTBC fell to a recent low of NT$19.70 in October, but moved sharply higher by 3.43 percent to close at NT$21.10 on Tuesday.
In addition to CTBC Financial, Taishin Financial Holding gained 2.26 percent to close at NT$13.55, Fubon Financial Holding Co. added 1.96 percent to end at NT$52.00, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 0.79 percent to close at NT$38.10.
Mega Financial Holding Co. bucked the general upturn, falling 0.50 percent to end at NT$29.75.
Among old economy stocks, China Petrochemical Development Corp. rose 1.38 percent to close at NT$9.52, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. added 0.59 percent to end at NT$68.70.
Also, textile brand Far Eastern New Century Corp. rose 0.93 percent to close at NT$32.45, and Eclat Textile Co. gained 2.59 percent to end at NT$435.50.
The transportation industry lost 0.91 percent with Evergreen Marine Corp., the largest container cargo shipper in Taiwan, falling 1.82 percent to close at NT$135.00, and rival Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. dropping 1.83 percent to end at NT$59.10.
“Despite the general gains, turnover remained thin, indicating that many investors stayed on the sidelines, waiting for the outcome of the Fed’s meeting,” Huang said.
“While the market has widely anticipated the Fed will raise interest rates by 75 basis points this time, many in the market have been wondering what will happen in the December meeting.”
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.06 billion in shares Tuesday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel