The TAIEX yesterday fell 1.44 percent, or 144.69 points, to close below 10,000 points for the second time since last week, but the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said it would not intervene in the stock market for the time being.
The weighted index yesterday opened at 9,989.63 points, 56.18 points lower from its previous close, and failed to stage a rebound, remaining below its closing level of 10,045.81 points on Friday last week.
The index fell below 9,900 points at 10:34am and later recovered slightly to close at 9,901.12 points on turnover of NT$115.91 billion (US$3.75 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Papermaking, biotech, shipping, information services and trade were the only sub-indices that did not decline, the data showed.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, fell 2.74 percent to NT$230.5; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a key assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhones, lost 1.95 percent to close at NT$70.5; and smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) fell 2.11 percent to NT$3,480.
The TAIEX’s drop mirrored declines in the region’s stock markets, with Hong Kong falling 1.38 percent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 1.87 percent and Shanghai falling 1.49 percent, Capital Investment Trust Corp (群益投信) fund manager Daniel Tsai (蔡彥正) said.
Asian stock markets did not fare well, even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite Index climbed 1.15 percent and 1.42 percent respectively on Friday.
The escalating US-China trade war and a currency report to be unveiled this week by the US Department of the Treasury have unnerved investors, Tsai said.
In Taipei, investors sold shares across the board, especially in the bellwether technology stocks.
Tsai attributed the trend to investors’ concerns about large inventories in the semiconductor industry, waning demand for consumer electronics products, Intel Corp’s slow progress in moving its output to 10-nanometer technology and a shortage of processors.
Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that he did not see any panic selling during yesterday’s session, adding that the commission did not need to prop up share prices for the time being.
The commission would ease investors’ worries by revealing more information about listed companies’ share buyback plans, Koo said.
Foreign institutional investors yesterday sold a net NT$19.55 billion in local shares on the main bourse, TWSE data showed.
Additional reporting by CNA
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