Taipei, March 7 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed lower Friday, with selling sparked by losses in the U.S. markets overnight following the launch of a trade war by the Trump administration, dealers said.
However, overall losses were capped by a resilient Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), dealers added.
The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended down 139.36 points, or 0.61 percent, at 22,576.07 after moving between 22,542.08 and 22,747.11. Turnover totaled NT$350.18 billion (US$10.65 billion).
The local main board initially moved in a narrow range but selling set in during the mid-morning session and escalated in the afternoon, pushing the Taiex below the 22,600-point mark.
This followed a drop of 0.99 percent on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 2.61 percent fall on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index overnight following U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
“Compared with losses in U.S. markets, Taiwan appeared resilient, with TSMC above the critical NT$1,000 mark. Otherwise, the local main board would have fallen further due to the impact of Trump’s tariff policies,” Concord Capital Management analyst Lu Chin-wei said.
“With foreign institutional investors on the sell side, I suspect government-led funds likely bought TSMC shares to stabilize the Taiex,” Lu said.
Despite a 4.57 percent decline in American depositary receipts overnight, TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock, closed unchanged at NT$1,005.00, coming off a low of NT$1,000.00.
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$29.50 billion worth of shares on the main board Friday. In the week, net sales hit NT$149.70 billion.
Smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. fell 2.01 percent to end at NT$1,465.00, and IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. shed 2.11 percent to close at NT$162.50.
Meanwhile, United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, ended up 0.34 percent at NT$44.15 percent.
Also in the tech sector, iPhone assembler and artificial intelligence maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., second to TSMC in terms of market value, lost 0.86 percent to close at NT$172.00, and Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server supplier, dropped 0.96 percent to end at NT$258.00.
“Market sentiment was also affected by fears over U.S. inflation caused by higher tariffs. It was no surprise that non-tech stocks performed poorly,” Lu said.
Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp. fell 1.39 percent to close at NT$178.00, and Fortune Electric Co. shed 2.57 percent to end at NT$607.00.
In addition, food brand Uni-President Enterprises Corp. lost 2.17 percent to close at NT$81.20, while cooking oil supplier Great Wall Enterprise Co. ended unchanged at NT$55.80.
In the financial sector, which lost 0.99 percent, Cathay Financial Holding Co. shed 2.04 percent to close at NT$67.30, and Fubon Financial Holding Co. dropped 1.73 percent to end at NT$90.90.
“As long as the impact of tariffs remains, the local stock market will continue to struggle,” Lu said.
