Taiwan Shares End Flat After Initial Gains Erode

Taipei: Shares in Taiwan closed little changed Monday as an initial significant upturn was eroded by investor profit-taking following losses on other regional markets, dealers said. After surging 970 points to hit the day's high, the Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, ended up 25.91 points, or 0.06 percent, at 45,380.52 with a turnover totaling NT$1.03 trillion (US$31.98 billion). According to Focus Taiwan, "The Seoul market reversed earlier gains and the Taipei market just followed suit," said Cathay Futures Consultant analyst Tsai Ming-han. "Fears are growing that the previous significant gains in share prices will lead to further volatility." Before Monday's session, the Taiex had soared nearly 58 percent since the beginning of the year, with profit-taking focusing on semiconductor and electronic component stocks. In particular, shares in smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. decreased by 2.55 percent to close at NT$3,825.00, and IC packaging and testing firm ASE Technology Holding Co. fe ll 1.03 percent to end at NT$670.00. Memory chip suppliers Nanya Technology Corp. and Winbond Electronics Corp. also faced declines, losing 2.87 percent and 5.38 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Yageo Corp., the world's third-largest multilayer ceramic capacitor maker, shed 9.33 percent to close at NT$816.00, while copper clad laminate producer Elite Material Co. fell by 3.21 percent to end at NT$5,125.00. However, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) appeared resilient, posting gains that lent support to the broader market. TSMC rose 1.04 percent to close at NT$2,440.00, preventing the Taiex from an additional 200-point drop. Old economy stocks ended mixed, but the four entities under the conglomerate Formosa Plastics Corp. attracted strong buying interest following solid second quarter results. The accumulated net profit of these entities stood at NT$64.28 billion during the April-June period, up 45.50 percent from a quarter earlier. Formosa Plastics Corp. and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. both soared b y the maximum daily increase of 10 percent. Additionally, Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp. climbed 8.33 percent, and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. ended up 7.31 percent. In contrast, food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. saw a modest increase of 0.13 percent, but cooking oil supplier Taisun Enterprise Co. fell by 3.86 percent. In the financial sector, CTBC Financial Holding Co. experienced a decline of 1.34 percent, while Fubon Financial Holding Co. rose by 2.10 percent. Tsai noted that alongside TSMC's results, the upcoming U.S. earnings season is also worth monitoring. According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$19.58 billion of shares on the main board Monday.