Taiwan shares end slightly lower, while CPO, shipping stocks rally

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed slightly lower Monday after recovering most of their earlier losses, as buying in stocks related to co-packaged optics (CPO) and shipping offset selling in major semiconductor stocks, dealers said.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended down 11.48 points, or 0.02 percent, at 49,301.96 after moving between 48,768.82 and 49,412.90. Turnover totaled NT$843.93 billion (US$26.40 billion).

The market opened lower and fell more than 540 points in early trading, led by large-cap semiconductor stocks, after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 3.77 percent during Thursday and Friday.

The drop followed media reports that OpenAI's annualized revenue was about US$20 billion lower than previously reported, dealers said.

The Taipei market closed Friday during the long National Day weekend.

"Fortunately, funds rotated out of semiconductor stocks and flocked to other tech stocks, led by CPO-related stocks, helping the broader market recoup part of its earlier losses," Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said.

"Largan generated the second-highest turnover, at NT$37.53 billion, among listed companies on the main board," Huang said. "Its high share price and large turnover helped the Taiex recover."

Largan Precision Industry Co., a smartphone camera lens maker that has invested in CPO development, surged 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$7,325.00, helping push the optoelectronics index up 3.49 percent.

Largan's strength spread to other optoelectronics stocks. Calin Technology Co. surged 10 percent to NT$41.00, Zhong Yang Technology Co. rose 7.63 percent to NT$55.00, and Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co. gained 3.68 percent to NT$197.00.

However, the semiconductor index fell 0.35 percent, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which accounts for more than 40 percent of total market capitalization.

TSMC lost 0.39 percent to close at NT$2,540.00, up from an intraday low of NT$2,510.00. It recorded the largest turnover on the main board, at NT$51.59 billion.

Among other semiconductor stocks, smartphone integrated circuit (IC) designer MediaTek Inc. fell 1.39 percent to NT$4,625.00, while IC packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co. rose 2.42 percent to NT$762.00.

Elsewhere in the tech sector, iPhone assembler and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. slid 1.81 percent to NT$244.50, and power management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc. fell 3.31 percent to NT$1,900.00.

"Today, shipping stocks steamed ahead amid optimism about their operations," Huang said.

Evergreen Marine Corp., Taiwan's largest container shipping company, surged 10 percent to NT$255.50. Rivals Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. rose 6.53 percent and 8.52 percent to NT$63.60 and NT$121.00, respectively.

Petrochemical stocks lagged, with Formosa Plastics Corp. falling 0.74 percent to NT$80.70 and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. declining 2.26 percent to NT$303.00.

The financial sector also attracted rotational buying, rising 2.87 percent and lending support to the Taiex, Huang said. Fubon Financial Holding Co. gained 3.59 percent to NT$158.50, while Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 2.73 percent to NT$113.00.

According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$52.20 billion worth of shares on the main board Monday.