Taiwan shares close at record high but fall short of 50,000 points

Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at a fresh high Tuesday, but gains were capped as the benchmark index remained below the 50,000-point mark, with investors turning cautious as it approached the psychologically important level, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 110.51 points, or 0.22 percent, at 49,822.55 after moving between 49,479.69 and 49,968.92. Turnover totaled NT$975.94 billion (US$30.70 billion).

"As the 50,000-point mark neared, some investors sold shares to lock in gains," Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said. "Fortunately, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) stayed resilient and still posted gains after retreating from an intraday high, helping the broader market break its previous closing record."

Contract chipmaker TSMC, whose American depositary receipts rose 2.75 percent overnight, gained 0.39 percent to close at another high of NT$2,585.00.

The stock, which accounts for over 40 percent of the market's total value, contributed about 80 points to the Taiex's rise.

"Interest in TSMC showed that investors expect the chipmaker to provide upbeat guidance on its business outlook and overseas expansion at an investor conference scheduled for Oct. 15 amid the ongoing AI boom," Huang said.

Among other semiconductor stocks, IC packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co. ended up 0.27 percent at NT$744.00, while smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. shed 4.74 percent to close at NT$4,920.00.

Elsewhere in the technology sector, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. added 0.79 percent to end at NT$256.00, while Wistron Corp., another AI server producer, closed unchanged at NT$189.50.

Power management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc. rose 2.24 percent to end at NT$2,050.00.

"Profit-taking largely focused on large-cap tech stocks, so investors rotated into select old-economy industries, with major companies in the Formosa Plastics Group in the spotlight," Huang said.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. rose 2.94 percent to close at NT$101.50, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. gained 2.45 percent to end at NT$293.00 and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. rose 1.96 percent to close at NT$73.00.

Textile stocks attracted bargain hunters due to their relatively low valuations, with Eclat Textile Co. up 4.13 percent to close at NT$290.00 and Makalot Industrial Co. up 3.04 percent to end at NT$203.50.

In the financial sector, which rose 1.29 percent, Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 1.64 percent to close at NT$154.50, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. ended up 0.45 percent at NT$112.00.

"U.S. Treasury yields are still rising," Huang said. "I am afraid that if yields go up further, tech firms will feel the pinch from higher fundraising costs, which could affect their operations and, in turn, their share prices, which tend to move closely with those of their Taiwanese counterparts."

The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level overnight since April 2002.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$6.66 billion worth of shares on the main board Tuesday.