Shares in Taiwan closed down 13.03 points, or 0.09 percent, at 14,936.33 Monday as local large-cap semiconductor stocks suffered in the wake of disappointing overnight results in the United States.
The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's weighted index, opened down 0.32 percent, and soon moved to the day's low of 14,851.37, with a 1.87 percent decline for the tech-heavy Nasdaq in the U.S. igniting selling.
A robust outing for nontech stocks sparked a rebound, and the Taiex hit the day's high of 14,968.23 before ending Monday down 0.09 percent, with turnover totaling NT$182.33 billion (US$6.1 billion).
Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the local market's most heavily weighted stock, came under pressure throughout the session and ended down 0.70 percent at NT$499.50
TSMC's weak showing drove selling in the electronics sector, which ended down 0.49 percent, as investors rotated buying to the financial sector and select old economy stocks.
In the semiconductor subindex, which ended down 1.05 percent, smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 2.41 percent to end at NT$688.00, with United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a smaller contract chipmaker, down 4.59 percent at NT$40.50, and power management IC designer Silergy Corp. down 6.02 percent at NT$578.00.
Bucking the downturn, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rose 1.42 percent to close at NT$107.50, and computing brand Acer Inc. gained 1.77 percent to end at NT$23.05.
Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang said that a weaker than expected earnings report from the Nasdaq-listed Snap Inc. had prompted concerns over U.S. tech heavyweights Meta, Microsoft Corp., and Apple Inc., which are due to release quarterly results later this week.
Huang added that TSMC, whose U.S. depositary receipts closed down 1.67 percent on Friday, was expected to find strong technical support ahead of the 20-day moving average of NT$474.00.
In the financial sector, up 0.67 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. rose 1.37 percent to close at NT$59.20, and fellow life insurance underwriter Fubon Financial Holding Co. was up 1.22 percent to close at NT$45.55.
SinoPac Financial Holding Co. gained 1.23 percent to end at NT$16.40, while CTBC Financial Holding Co. was down 0.22 percent at NT$22.70.
In the petrochemical sector, up 1.61 percent, Formosa Plastics Corp. gained 2.73 percent to end at NT$90.30, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. rose 1.62 percent to end at NT$68.90, and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. closed up 1.57 percent at NT$83.90.
In the old economy sector, China Steel Corp., the largest steel maker in Taiwan, rose 1.62 percent to close at NT$31.30, while China Steel Structure Corp. gained 2.12 percent to end at NT$53.10.
Evergreen Marine Corp., the largest container cargo shipper in Taiwan, lost 2.23 percent to close at NT$92.10, while rival Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., shed 2.91 percent to end at NT$86.90.
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.51 billion worth of shares on the main board Monday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel