Taiwan shares end up amid buying of large-cap stocks

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved higher by more than 180 points Monday, bouncing back from the weakness seen a session earlier after buying was sparked by gains on U.S. markets at the end of last week.

The bellwether electronics sector led the upturn, with tech heavyweights largely in line with their American counterparts, but turnover was low amid lingering caution ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday (U.S. time).

The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended up 185.31 points, or 0.81 percent, at 22,965.39 after fluctuating between 22,792.77 and 23,020.99. Turnover totaled NT$311.697 billion (US$9.79 billion).

On Friday, the Taiex lost 0.18 percent.

The market opened up 0.26 percent and momentum accelerated, particularly among large-cap electronic stocks, as investors took cues from a 0.80 percent increase on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index and a 1.11 percent rise on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Friday.

The strength continued, vaulting the Taiex over the technical resistance ahead of the five-day moving average of around 22,945 points. Some profit-taking took place later on in the trading session, which slightly reduced the overall gains.

"The U.S. markets continued to influence the Taiwan market, resulting in local tech heavyweights attracting most of the market attention throughout today's session," equity market analyst Andy Hsu said.

Hsu was referring to the electronics index gaining 1.04 percent on the local main board after TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, rose 1.46 percent to close at NT$1,040.00.

TSMC's gains contributed about 120 points to the Taiex's rise on Monday.

"But, the Taiex entered consolidation mode before the U.S. presidential vote, which is causing uncertainties in the global markets," Hsu said. "The local main board facing headwinds tomorrow if the U.S. markets pull back overnight would be no surprise."

Despite a rising TSMC, other major semiconductor stocks had mixed performances.

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp. ended down 3.02 percent at NT$40.20. United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a smaller contract chipmaker, was down 1.29 percent at NT$46.00, and IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. was down 0.37 percent to end at NT$152.50.

However, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. rose 0.39 percent to close at NT$1,295.00, and Alchip Technologies Inc., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer, soared 7.39 percent to end at NT$2,180.00 after MediaTek agreed to take a stake in AIchip's private placement.

Also in the electronics sector, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., second to TSMC in terms of market value, rose 2.85 percent to close at NT$214.00, and its affiliate Foxconn Technology Co. gained 6.63 percent to end at NT$86.90.

"The stocks in the Hon Hai group also served as a driver to the Taiex gains today," Hsu said.

In addition, artificial intelligence server maker Quanta Computer Inc. rose 2.79 percent to close at NT$313.50, while AI graphics card vendor Giga-Byte Technology Co. lost 1.24 percent to end at NT$278.59.

"With the tech sector under the spotlight, many old economy stocks struggled," Hsu said.

The construction index fell by 2.19 percent Monday from a 2.92 percent rebound Friday as investors worried that government policy to rein in home prices would impact the property market, Hsu said.

Among the falling property stocks, King's Town Construction Co. tumbled 7.74 percent to close at NT$76.30, and Sino Horizon Holdings Ltd. dropped 4.33 percent to end at NT$29.80.

Crowell Development Corp. dropped 3.60 percent to close at NT$37.50, and Huaku Development Co. ended down 2.89 percent at NT$117.50.

Despite the rebound in freight rates in recent weeks, the transportation index still lost 1.22 percent with Evergreen Marine Corp., the largest container cargo shipper in Taiwan, down 1.17 percent to close at NT$210.50 and rival Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. down 2.71 percent to end at NT$68.10.

Elsewhere in the old economy sector, China Steel Corp., the largest steel maker in Taiwan, closed unchanged at NT$22.70, while Tung Ho Steel Corp. lost 2.75 percent to end at NT$74.30.

In the financial sector, which moved in line with the broader market, Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 2.10 percent to close at NT$92.30, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended up 1.46 percent at NT$69.60.

"Investors should stay on the sidelines and wait for the election results as today's breach of the five-day moving average probably is not that significant given current political uncertainties," Hsu said.

Despite the Taiex gains, foreign institutional investors were largely on the sell side, registering a net sell of NT$1.71 billion worth of shares on the main board Monday, according to the TWSE.