TAIPEI: Shares in Taiwan took a hit Thursday after the bellwether electronics sector came under heavy pressure as investors took cues from a move by foreign institutional investors to raise the number of net short position contracts in the futures market, dealers said.
Since foreign investors tended to profit from futures by cutting their holdings in the spot market, selling focused on high tech heavyweights, led by smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co. which suffered a more-than 7 percent fall, the dealers said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 207.89 points, or 2.17 percent, at 9,348.63, after moving between 9,325.01 and 9,558.77 on turnover of NT$135.17 billion (US$4.37 billion).
The market opened down 0.20 percent on follow-through selling from a session earlier as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. trended lower amid concern about the chip maker’s sales growth, the dealers said.
