Taiwan shares end up but gains curbed by TSMC's losses

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed higher Monday, but gains were eroded by the losses suffered by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) after the Wall Street Journal reported Apple Inc. could shift its orders to Intel Corp., dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 186.12 points, or 0.45 percent, at 41,790.06 after hitting a high of 42,021.78. Turnover totaled NT$1.11 trillion (US$35.19 billion).

"Tech stocks in the United States continued to move higher (on Friday) and the local electronics sector followed suit today amid lingering optimism toward AI development," Moore Securities Investment Consulting analyst Adam Lin said, citing a 1.71 percent increase on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

"But, TSMC came under pressure on the Intel report with selling escalating in the late trading session so the Taiex failed to sustain all its gains above 42,000 points," Lin said.

TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, fell 2.40 percent to close at the day's low of NT$2,235.00. TSMC's losses cost the Taiex by about 440 points.

Mega International Investment Services analyst Alex Huang said TSMC's lead over its peers in high-end technology development will not be affected anytime soon, adding investors simply used the Intel leads to pocket profits they had built in recent sessions.

Fortunately, Lin said, buying rotated to other electronics stocks, lending support to the entire Taiex.

Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. rose 6.89 percent to close at NT$3,880.00, while memory chip suppliers Nanya Technology Corp. and Winbond Electronics Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$301.10 and NT$117.50.

PC brand Asustek Computer Inc. rose 5.54 percent to close at NT$686.00, and rival Acer Inc. ended up 3.60 percent at NT$28.80.

"Selected old economy stocks that have ties with AI development also attracted buying today," Lin said. Among them, Nan Ya Plastics Corp., the parent of Nanya Technology, rose 3.27 percent to close at NT$91.50, and Formosa Plastics Corp., which has cross shareholding with Nan Ya Plastics, also gained 1.44 percent to end at NT$44.25.

On the back of their efforts in robotics development in the AI era, machinery supplier Hiwin Technologies Corp. surged 10 percent to close at NT$351.00, and its subsidiary Hiwin Mikrosystem Corp. also jumped 10 percent to end at NT$250.50.

In the financial sector, which fell 0.72 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. shed 2.00 percent to close at NT$78.40, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. ended down 1.24 percent at NT$78.40.

"Investors should keep a close eye on the U.S.-China summit as political news arising from the meeting could move the financial markets," Lin said. The meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is scheduled for Thursday.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$10.98 billion of shares on the main board Monday.