Taiwan shares ended flat after a big swing

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed little changed after a big swing of more than 1,000 points Tuesday as selling emerged to erode initial gains with investors shrugging off a rally in the United States overnight, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended down 25.75 points, or 0.06 percent, at 43,360.66 after moving between 42,895.81 and 43,912.77. Turnover totaled NT$1.036 trillion (US$34.5 billion).

Despite a 2.13 percent increase on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index overnight, "the Taiex still failed to sustain its earlier upturn as large-cap semiconductor stocks, in particular TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), traded in negative territory," Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said.

"TSMC remained in consolidation so the entire main board just followed," Huang said. "Judging from today's movement, I suspect the Taiex faced stiff technical resistance around the 20-day moving average of 43,785 points."

Contract chipmaker TSMC, which accounts for over 40 percent of total market value, closed down 2.11 percent at NT$2,320.00 and its losses led the semiconductor subindex to fall by 1.37 percent.

Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 1.15 percent to end at NT$3,865.00, and IC packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co. shed 4.10 percent to close at NT$585.00.

Bucking the downturn, shares in memory chip suppliers Nanya Technology Corp. and Winbond Electronics Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$436.00 and NT$157.00, respectively, on a global supply shortage.

"Funds rotated out of TSMC but flowed to non-chip AI-related stocks. That means rotational buying remained active," Huang said.

Among them, power management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc. rose 2.53 percent to close at NT$1,620.00, and Yageo Corp., the world's third-largest multi-layer ceramic capacitor maker, added 2.54 percent to end at NT$566.00.

However, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. lost 1.19 percent to close at NT$250.00, while Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server supplier, rose 1.35 percent to end at NT$300.50.

Buying also rotated to select old-economy stocks with Formosa Plastics Corp. up 2.79 percent to close at NT$55.30, and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. up 3.33 percent to end at NT$170.50.

Meanwhile, Tung Ho Steel Corp. added 2.61 percent to close at NT$82.50, while China Steel Corp., Taiwan's largest steel maker, ended unchanged at NT$18.85.

In the financial sector, which fell 0.54 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. lost 1.29 percent to close at NT$99.20, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. ended down 0.77 percent at NT$128.50.

After the joint efforts of the U.S. and Japan to bolster the Japanese yen, "investors should watch closely how the Taiwan dollar moves against the U.S. dollar for clues about whether foreign institutional investors will keep their funds here or shift funds overseas, which will serve as a barometer for the Taiex's movement," Huang said.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$5.73 billion of shares on the main board Tuesday.