Taiwan shares end up on technical rebound led by TSMC

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed higher Wednesday, bouncing back from an over 1,000-point slump a session earlier with contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) boosted by last-minute buying, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 255.30 points, or 0.56 percent, at 45,734.41 after moving between 45,036.64 and 45,837.12.

Turnover totaled NT$958.35 billion (US$29.83 billion), marking the first time turnover fell below the NT$1 trillion mark since April 29, when the figure stood at NT$915.27 billion.

"Thanks to TSMC, the Taiex recouped its earlier losses and rebounded from Tuesday's heavy losses," Mega International Investment Services analyst Alex Huang said. "Ahead of its investor conference (slated for July 16), the stock stayed resilient as investors hope the chipmaker will give positive leads during the meeting."

Despite a 4.25 percent fall in its American depositary receipts overnight, TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, rose 1.02 percent to close at NT$2,465.00.

Buying spread to other chip stocks with shares in United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, up 6.89 percent to end at NT$163.00, and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., another contract chipmaker, up 1.57 percent to close at NT$71.20.

However, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. ended down 0.87 percent at NT$3,995.00.

Select electronic component suppliers also attracted bargain hunters with printed circuit board makers in focus, Huang said. Among them, Compeq Manufacturing Co. rose 2.75 percent to close at NT$224.00 and WUS Printed Circuit Co. gained 6.08 percent to end at NT$218.00.

Also in the tech sector, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. added 0.21 percent to close at NT$237.50, while power management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc. lost 0.26 percent to end at NT$1,885.00.

"Another driver of the market's gains was the financial sector, which has been consolidating for some time," Huang said, citing the 1.56 percent increase in the financial index.

Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose 2.44 percent to close at NT$126.00, CTBC Financial Holding Co. gained 1.57 percent to end at NT$71.30, and Cathay Financial Holding Co. closed up 1.03 percent at NT$98.00.

Old economy stocks largely traded mixed.

Eclat Textile Co. lost 1.32 percent to close at NT$336.00, and rival Makalot Industrial Co. slid 3.24 percent to end at NT$224.00.

Rebounding from Tuesday's 10 percent plunge, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$182.00, and Formosa Plastics Corp. ended up 1.22 percent at NT$58.00.

"Look at the reduced turnover. I think many investors remained cautious about possible further volatility down the road after the recent strong Taiex performance," Huang said, urging investors to watch for stiff technical resistance around 47,000 points.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$37.95 billion of shares on the main board Wednesday.