US Stocks Close Lower, Taiwan Stocks Open Gap-Down in Sympathy
US stocks saw all four major indexes close lower on Thursday amid mixed earnings from large tech stocks and growing market concerns over the return on massive AI capital expenditure. Hit by a plunge in Google parent Alphabet shares, Taiwan stocks saw renewed selling pressure on the 30th after a 667-point plunge the previous day. The weighted index opened at 46139.79, down 228.54 points, then losses expanded rapidly, plunging over 1600 points intraday to a low of 44726, falling below the 45000 level and the half-year moving average, as market panic rose and short-term technicals came under pressure.
Electronic Heavyweights Fall Across the Board, Panel Stocks Plunge Sharply
台積電, 聯發科, 台達電 and other electronic heavyweights weakened in tandem. 台積電 opened at 2380 yuan, down 35 yuan, and fell to 2360 yuan intraday, down about 2%. 聯發科, which is set to hold an earnings call this afternoon, also came under pressure, falling to 3805 yuan in early trading, down as much as 6%. 台達電 faced heavy selling pressure, repeatedly touching the limit-down price of 1335 yuan intraday, down 145 yuan. 鴻海 fell to 240.5 yuan at one point, while 日月光投控 dropped to 624 yuan, down about 6%, as electronic heavyweights almost fully collapsed.
Panel stocks were among the hardest hit in early trading. 友達, which reported a third-quarter loss per share of 0.33 yuan yesterday, opened sharply lower and later fell to the limit-down price of 30.65 yuan. 群創 also weakened, approaching limit-down at one point.
Food Stocks Resilient, Focus Turns to Earnings Calls and Positioning
Funds rotated to defensive groups for hedging, with food stocks relatively resilient, becoming one of the few bright spots. 味全 surged to the limit-up price of 13.55 yuan in early trading, up 1.2 yuan, or 9.72%, while 味王, 統一 and other food stocks also showed relatively resilient performance. As electronic heavyweights faced heavy selling, food stocks attracted some inflows due to their consumer-staples, domestic-demand market and relatively stable operations, becoming the intraday hedging focus.
Analysts said Taiwan stocks saw sharply increased volatility in the short term amid the US tech pullback, foreign-investor adjustments and AI capital expenditure concerns. Foreign investors' net short positions in TAIFEX futures had risen to 89522 contracts yesterday, approaching the 90000-contract mark, with both futures and spot positioning skewed bearish. Although the domestic economic signal flashed red for 10 consecutive months, earnings from US cloud service providers created headwinds, selling pressure in US tech stocks persisted, and the recent decline in margin financing has lagged the broader market decline, leaving positioning still to be digested. Taiwan stocks fell below the quarterly moving average yesterday and further broke below the half-year moving average today, likely to remain volatile in the short term while seeking support. Going forward, in addition to watching whether 台積電 and other large heavyweights can stabilize, the fourth-quarter business outlook, AI ASIC business progress and gross margin changes to be released at 聯發科's earnings call this afternoon will also become an important basis for assessing the outlook for electronics stocks.