Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high on Tuesday but surrendered most of their earlier gains as investors moved to secure their significant profits from recent sessions, with a particular focus on contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), dealers said. The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), finished up 63.78 points, or 0.23 percent, at 27,752.41. The index traded between 27,742.55 and 27,969.05, with a turnover of NT$513.92 billion (US$16.76 billion).
According to Focus Taiwan, despite the closing high, investor sentiment turned cautious regarding a potential major technical pullback after the Taiex had shown consistent gains since the Trump administration’s announcement of sweeping ‘reciprocal’ tariffs in April. Analyst Alex Huang of Mega International Investment Services noted that before Tuesday, the index had surged 10,296.87 points, or 59.21 percent, from the closing level of 17,391.76 on April 9.
Today’s expanded turnover indicated many investors were trimming holdings, with TSMC being a primary target, Huang remarked. Although TSMC closed unchanged at NT$1,480.00, down from an intraday high of NT$1,500.00, it significantly impacted the Taiex by approximately 160 points. Other semiconductor heavyweights such as ASE Technology Holding Co. fell 2.50 percent to NT$195.00, while MediaTek Inc. remained unchanged at NT$1,340.00.
The market witnessed a rotation towards smaller IC designers, with TSMC’s ASIC design subsidiary, Global Unichip Corp., surging 10 percent, marking the maximum daily increase to close at NT$1,675.00. In the tech sector, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., known for iPhone assembly and AI server production, rose 0.21 percent to NT$239.00. Conversely, Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server supplier, dropped 1.85 percent to NT$291.00.
Some old economy stocks saw rotational buying, notably in the biotech sector, although their smaller weighting limited their impact on the Taiex. The biotech index rose 2.13 percent, with Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. climbing 10 percent to NT$306.50, and Panion and BF Biotech Inc. gaining 1.52 percent to NT$66.70. In the construction sector, Highwealth Construction Corp. increased 1.78 percent to NT$51.40, and Kindom Development Co. advanced 1.06 percent to NT$33.50.
In the financial sector, which appreciated by 0.44 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 1.68 percent to NT$90.60, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. edged up 0.61 percent to NT$65.70. Huang indicated the Taiex faces significant technical resistance near the 28,000 point mark, suggesting investors raise cash levels to 30 percent of their portfolios while reducing stock holdings to mitigate potential losses from major corrections.
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors offloaded a net NT$240.71 million worth of shares on the main board on Tuesday.