Taiwan shares fall 1.38% amid heightened Middle East tensions

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed down more than 250 points on Monday, mirroring losses in other Asian markets following an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend that sparked fears of a regional war.

Aside from the Middle East tensions, additional corrections could cut more of the market's recent gains in the short term, though its fundamentals and long-term outlook remain strong, analysts said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark weighted index, ended down 286.8 points, or 1.38 percent, at 20,449.77 on turnover totaling NT$478.32 billion (US$14.78 billion).

By industry, the electronics sector fell by 1.91 percent, while electric machinery stocks fell by 3.37 percent. The AI server-dominated computer and peripheral index dropped by 3.37 percent and financial industry stocks fell by 0.09 percent.

In terms of individual stocks, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) fell by 1.47 percent to close at NT$806, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek plunged 5.93 percent to end at NT$1,110.

Also in the electronics sector, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. lost 2.99 percent to close at NT$146, while power management solutions provider Delta Electronics fell 2.84 percent to close at NT$308.

Among AI-related stocks, AI server maker Quanta Computer Inc. closed down 3.69 percent at NT$261, while rival Wistron Corp. shed 2.45 percent to end at NT$119.50.

Giga-Byte Technology Co, a leading graphics card vendor for AI applications, lost 5.03 percent to close at NT$302.

Huang Yu-min (黃鈺民), an ETF fund manager at Taishin Securities Investment Trust, said Monday's losses were part of a "healthy correction" following some of the record gains registered by Taiwan's stock market and others around the world over the past month.

Despite the anticipated pullback, the market is still likely to perform better in the second half of 2024 than in the first, Huang said, citing such factors as rebounding export growth, progress on inflation, rising corporate profits, and expected interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.