Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved lower by almost 300 points Monday on the back of weakness among semiconductor heavyweights as U.S President Donald Trump’s tariff polices continued to impact market sentiment, dealers said.
The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended down 288.83 points, or 1.49 percent, at 19,106.20 after moving between 19,080.60 and 19,359.96. Turnover totaled NT$207.66 billion (US$6.4 billion).
“Uncertainties created by Trump’s tariffs continued to hurt investor confidence,” equity market analyst Andy Hsu said. “The worst thing is that few investors were willing to buy on the dip even though the Taiex has fallen sharply in recent sessions. They just wanted to sit back and watch for now.”
Hsu said large-cap semiconductor stocks continue to lead the broader market lower after contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most heavily weighted local stock, lost 1.76 percent to close at NT$835.00, contributing about 120 points to the Taiex’s fall and sending the electronics index down by 1.60 percent.
“Even though TSMC left its sales forecast for 2025 unchanged (at an April 17 investor conference), shrugging off the impact of tariffs, investors just did not buy it, fearing its clients will eventually scale back orders later this year,” Hsu said.
“How Trump will tax semiconductors remains a big concern to the industry,” he added.
Among other semiconductor stocks, TSMC’s IC packaging equipment supplier Scientech Corp. shed 3.41 percent to end at NT$241.00, and smartphone IC designer MediaTek Inc. lost 1.47 percent to close at NT$1,345.00. Bucking the downturn, memory chip supplier Nanya Technology Corp. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to end at NT$38.80 as clients rushed to build up inventories before Trump’s announcement on semiconductor duties.
Second to TSMC in terms of market value, iPhone and AI server maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. rose 0.74 percent to close at NT$136.50, and Quanta Computer Inc., another AI server maker, gained 0.65 percent to end at NT$232.00. “I suspect government-led funds lent support to these stocks,” Hsu said.
Tariff worries continued to affect most stocks in the non-tech sector throughout the session, he noted.
With the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) stopping a two-week rising streak last week, the transportation index fell 2.56 percent. Evergreen Marine Corp., the largest container cargo shipper in Taiwan, lost 2.89 percent to close at NT$201.50 and rivals Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. dropped 3.05 percent and 1.32 percent, respectively, to end at NT$69.90 and NT$82.10.
Also in the old economy sector, Eclat Textile Co. lost 2.78 percent to close at NT$367.50, and rival Makalot Industrial Co. shed 5.36 percent to end at NT$247.00. In addition, Formosa Plastics Corp. dropped 2.40 percent to close at NT$34.60, and Formosa Petrochemical Corp. ended down 2.77 percent at NT$24.60.
The financial sector appeared resilient, up 0.08 percent with Cathay Financial Holding Co. up 0.93 percent to close at NT$54.10, but Fubon Financial Holding Co. fell 0.63 percent to end at NT$79.00.
“It is hard to predict when the Taiex will bottom out as long as tariff concerns are in place,” Hsu said. “Investors need to keep as much cash as possible for now.”
According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.90 billion worth of shares on the main board Monday.
