Taiwan Stocks Rise as Domestic Steel Buying Offsets Foreign Semiconductor Selloff

Amidst continued selling by foreign investors, the Taiwan stock market closed higher today, with the index gaining 284.52 points to reach 48,625.83. Trading volume reached NT$928.624 billion, a slight increase from the previous trading session. Foreign investors net sold NT$20.037 billion, indicating that global capital remains cautious regarding risk exposure to Taiwan equities. In contrast, domestic investors demonstrated stronger buying enthusiasm, particularly for China Steel Corp., which saw net buying of 77,000 shares, making it the most heavily purchased stock of the day.

Among the stocks sold by foreign investors, Nanya Technology Corp. drew the most attention with net selling of 22,967 shares. Nanya Technology is primarily engaged in the research, development, and manufacturing of memory chips. In recent years, its stock price has experienced significant volatility due to US-China trade friction and instability in the global semiconductor supply chain. The substantial foreign selling may reflect uncertainty over the semiconductor market outlook, as well as the impact of US restrictions on Chinese high-tech enterprises. Nanya Technology’s share price also trended downward today, exerting a certain negative spillover effect on overall market sentiment.

Conversely, the net buying of China Steel suggests that domestic investors maintain confidence in traditional industries. As Taiwan’s largest steel manufacturer, China Steel’s stock price typically performs relatively steadily during periods of global economic recovery, influenced by domestic and international construction demand and infrastructure investment. Part of the domestic buying interest stems from the company’s strategic positioning in Taiwan’s energy transition and green power generation sectors, with expectations that long-term demand will remain stable. This net buying activity also provided some support to the market, offsetting the pressure from foreign selling.

In terms of overall market performance, the fact that the Taiwan stock market maintained a positive trend despite foreign selling highlights the resilience and diversified investment structure of the Taiwan securities market. Foreign selling was primarily concentrated in high-tech stocks, especially in the semiconductor sector, which is linked to global semiconductor supply-demand tensions and the US-China strategic competition in technology. Domestic investors, on the other hand, showed a preference for stocks related to traditional industries and infrastructure. This divergence in investment preferences reflects the stratification and varying risk tolerance within the Taiwan investment market.

The future direction of the market will depend on multiple factors. First, further developments in US-China trade relations and US policies restricting Chinese high-tech enterprises may continue to affect foreign investor confidence in Taiwan semiconductor stocks. Second, the Taiwan government’s policies promoting green energy, the digital economy, and semiconductor supply chain security will influence the long-term development prospects of domestic industries. Finally, the pace of global economic recovery and fluctuations in raw material prices will directly impact capital flows in the Taiwan stock market.

In this context, investors should continue to monitor foreign investor movements and the buying and selling behavior of domestic investors, while evaluating the fundamentals and policy risks of individual industries. Although short-term volatility in the Taiwan stock market is influenced by foreign selling, in the long term, Taiwan’s diversified industrial structure and government policy support continue to provide investors with relatively stable growth potential. (Source: Central News Agency)