Taiwan shares end up on mild technical rebound

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed moderately higher as the market rebounded slightly from the previous session but turnover was lower, indicating investors' reluctance to chase prices amid the trade tensions between the United States and China, dealers said.

Led by iPhone assembler Hon Hai Industry Precision Co., some large-cap stocks in both the electronics and non-tech sectors attracted bargaining hunting, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) encountered selling as investors locked in their gains from the recent sessions, dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (Taiex) ended up 26.50 points, or 0.25 percent, at 10,752.30, after moving between 10,669.59 and 10,765.42. Turnover totaled NT$123.83 billion (US$4.02 billion) during the session.

The market opened down 2.80 points on follow-through selling from the previous session, when the Taiex ended down 1.12 percent, and continued to move in consolidation mode.

In a tug-of-war among large-cap stocks, the losses suffered by TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the market, compromised the gains by others, dealers said.

After the Taiex fell below the 10,700-point mark, however, some bargain hunting emerged, particularly late in the session, which helped the broader market to close moderately higher, they said.

"The global trade issue continued to dominate market sentiment here," Mega International Investment Services Corp. analyst Alex Huang said. "It was no surprise that the main board rebounded only slightly from yesterday's dive."

The U.S. is poised to implement tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, while U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs on another NT$267 billion worth of Chinese products, actions that are likely to trigger an all-out trade war with China, according to Huang.

"As the Taiex failed to recover and return to the (250-day moving average of) 10,800 points today, the market remained technically weak with a lower trading volume," he said.

After a 3.35 percent drop Monday, Hon Hai, second only to TSMC in terms of market value, rose 3.46 percent to close at NT$77.70 in the wake of its record high August sales report of NT$396.78 billion.

Among the other gaining large-cap stocks, Chunghwa Telecom Co. rose 1.38 percent to end at NT$110.00, food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. climbed 1.45 percent to close at NT$76.80, and textile firm Far Eastern New Century Corp. added 2.75 percent to end at NT$35.45.

In the financial sector, which closed up 0.27 percent, Yuanta Financial Holding Co. rose 2.01 percent to close at NT$15.25, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. finished 0.81 percent higher at NT$49.80.

"The gains posted these large-cap stocks helped alleviate the heavy losses suffered by TSMC and led the broader market to close higher," Huang said.

TSMC, which had gained 2.92 percent in the previous five sessions, fell 1.70 percent Tuesday to close at NT$260.00, with 34.30 million shares changing hands.

"The recent selling largely came from local investors, in particular retail investors, while foreign institutional investors remained on the buy side," Huang said. "Retail investors are maintaining a cautious outlook on the market in the wake of the recent heavy losses amid uncertainty over the global trade disputes."

Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$1.10 billion worth of shares on the main board Tuesday after a net buy of NT$4.0 billion in the previous session, when the Taiex tumbled, according to market data.