Market plunges to third straight weekly decline
Taiwan stocks saw sharp volatility from October 27 to 30 last week, plunging 1156.50 points on Friday (30th) to close at 45211.83 points, down 829.60 points for the week, or 1.80%, marking a third straight weekly decline. According to Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, the three major institutional investors sold a net NT$187.88 billion last week, of which foreign investors sold a net NT$1733.365 billion, while investment trusts bought a net NT$68.587 billion against the trend, showing divergent moves between domestic and foreign capital. The expanded single-day drop on Friday further dragged down full-week index performance, with market volatility intensifying significantly.
Memory duo takes top two spots in net purchases
Among the top 10 stocks by lots net-bought by the three major institutional investors, memory makers Winbond (2344) and Powerchip (6770) took the top 2 spots, together receiving net purchases of over 115,000 lots. Although weighed down by the market pullback, the memory sector still attracted institutional funds. Winbond received net purchases of 61,653 lots last week, taking the net-buy crown, including about 59,000 lots from foreign investors; its share price nevertheless fell NT$6, or 3.52%, on Friday to close at NT$164.5. Powerchip followed closely with 53,424 lots, with its share price falling NT$2.9, or 4.17%, on Friday to close at NT$66.6. Although both closed lower on the day, they were still significantly accumulated by institutions over the week, with relatively concentrated chips.
Five financial stocks make the list
Financial stocks were also favored, with 5 names squeezing into the top 10. CTBC Financial Holding (2891) took 3rd place with 39,567 lots, becoming the most-bought financial stock, followed by Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding (5880) with 27,865 lots in 5th place, Chang Hwa Bank (2801) with 24,000 lots in 6th place, Taishin Shin Kong Financial Holding (2887) with 23,544 lots in 8th place, and Yuanta Financial Holding (2885) with 224920 lots in 10th place, showing institutions continued to build positions in select financial stocks amid electronics volatility. In addition, steel leader China Steel (2002) received net purchases of 36235 lots to rank 4th, shipping stock Yang Ming (2609) bought 23,727 lots to rank 7th, and electronics stock Inventec (2356) bought 22,865 lots to rank 9th, with funds rotating across electronics, financials and traditional industries overall.