Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed lower Wednesday as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) pulled back on profit taking after hitting a record closing level a session earlier, dealers said. The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s benchmark index, ended down 140.83 points, or 0.46 percent, at 30,435.47, after moving between 30,306.16 and 30,570.26. Turnover totaled NT$853.01 billion (US$27.08 billion).
According to Focus Taiwan, local investors rushed to pocket profits built over the past few sessions, particularly from TSMC, which had led the Taiex to surpass the historical 30,000-point mark. The Taiex had previously soared 1,612.70 points, or 5.57 percent, in the first three sessions of this year, with TSMC surging about 10 percent.
TSMC fell 1.76 percent to close at NT$1,675.00 on Wednesday, contributing approximately 230 points to the Taiex’s decline. Without TSMC’s drop, the Taiex would have reported gains. Analyst Tsai Ming-han of Cathay Futures Consultant noted that with TSMC weakening, investors redirected their funds to other tech stocks, providing some support to the broader market.
In the tech sector, shares in United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, jumped 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$54.10. AI server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. also rose, closing up 1.06 percent at NT$238.50.
Memory chip suppliers continued to draw strong buying interest due to a product price spike, with Macronix International Co. soaring 10 percent to end at NT$57.60 and Nanya Technology Corp. rising 5.47 percent to close at NT$241.00.
In the non-tech sector, raw material stocks benefited from rotational buying on low valuations. Nan Ya Plastics Corp., the parent company of Nanya Technology, jumped 10 percent to close at NT$64.70, while Formosa Plastics Corp. gained 6.41 percent to end at NT$40.65. China Steel Corp., Taiwan’s largest steelmaker, rose 5.14 percent to close at NT$19.45, and Tung Ho Steel Corp. added 2.14 percent to end at NT$66.70.
The financial sector experienced a decline of 0.55 percent, with Cathay Financial Holding Co. falling 0.53 percent to close at NT$75.60, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. ending down 0.31 percent at NT$96.10. Tsai advised investors to monitor TSMC’s American depositary receipts’ performance, as it could influence its common shares and the Taiex in the following session.
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$29.87 billion worth of shares on the main board Wednesday.