Bourse ends lower after futures-led selling

Selling focused on select large-cap stocks, in particular in the electronics sector, amid lingering concerns over a rising Taiwan dollar. Old economy stocks also pulled back as investors locked in gains they had posted in recent sessions, they said.

The weighted index closed down 64.59 points, or 0.83 percent, at the day's low of 7,700.43, off an early high of 7,769.18, on turnover of NT$83.44 billion.

The market opened up 1.07 points and moved to the day's high on a slight technical rebound following a decline the day earlier, but selling emerged to drag down the broader market, dealers said.

Electronics heavyweights, such as touch panel maker TPK Holding Co., integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc., and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), faced relatively heavy downward pressure during the session, they said.

“Foreign institutional investors rushed to push down share prices on the spot market in a bid to make a profit on futures trading as today was the settlement day of some of their futures contracts,” Mirae Asset Management analyst Arch Shih said.

“Foreign investors even used various negative leads as a cause to drag down the index on the spot market throughout the session,” Shih said.

TPK fell 2.34 percent to close at NT$459.00 after Citigroup Global Markets voiced concerns over a supply glut in the global touch panel sector due to an aggressive expansion in production capacity.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, fell below the NT$100 mark for the first time since Jan. 2 to close at NT$99.20 ahead of an investor conference scheduled for Thursday.

“Before TSMC releases its fourth quarter results and gives its first quarter outlook tomorrow, investors are being cautious,” Shih said.

In addition to the current local earnings reason, investors here should also closely watch the results reported by Wall Street heavyweights, Shih said, adding that their earnings reports are expected to dictate foreign investors' trading strategies worldwide.

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