Taiwan shares end down with gains eroded on Middle East concerns

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed lower Thursday after giving up earlier gains amid lingering concerns over the Middle East, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended down 101.49 points, or 0.30 percent, at 33,337.62 after coming off a high of 33,892.56. Turnover totaled NT$736.41 billion (US$22.88 billion).

"With the market full of uncertainties over the war in the Middle East, investors stayed cautious," Concord Capital Management analyst Lu Chin-wei said, referring to the reports about negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the war.

After the Taiex rose over 800 points on Wednesday, the index continued its momentum to move an additional 453 points higher in the Thursday morning session. "That gave investors who remained wary of geopolitical unease a good opportunity to sell with liquid large-cap stocks in focus," Lu said.

Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, lost 0.27 percent to close at NT$1,840.00, off a high of NT$1,865.00. TSMC's fall from its high cost the Taiex about 200 points.

Among other semiconductors, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 1.85 percent to end at NT$1,590.00, while IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. gained 1.99 percent to close at NT$359.00. In the wake of heavy losses suffered by memory chip stocks in Seoul, Taiwanese counterpart Marconix International Co. plunged 10 percent, the maximum daily decline, to end at NT$128.00.

Elsewhere in the tech sector, AI server maker and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. appeared resilient, up 0.25 percent to close at NT$200.50, while power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. ended down 2.26 percent at NT$1,515.00.

"With crude oil prices rising, inflation concerns hurt investors' mood as they feared expensive goods would affect consumption. So, old economy stocks largely weakened," Lu said.

Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp. lost 2.03 percent to close at NT$193.50 and Fortune Electric Co. fell 3.46 percent to end at NT$894.00.

However, higher crude prices cut both ways, pushing up petrochemical heavyweights with Formosa Plastics Corp. up 3.94 percent to close at NT$47.45 and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. up 2.20 percent to end at NT$55.70.

In the financial sector, which lost 0.34 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. lost 0.23 percent to close at NT$88.60 and Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended down 0.84 percent at NT$70.80.

"Due to tensions in the Middle East, foreign institutional investors stood on the sell side for most of the recent sessions. If such selling continues, large-cap stocks could suffer further," Lu said.

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$7.92 billion of shares on the main board Thursday.