Taiwan Stock Market Opens Lower as Electronics Blue Chips Lose Revenue-Driven Momentum, Fails to Reclaim 45,000 Amid Over 200-Point Drop

Overnight, negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stalled again, weighing heavily on global markets. U.S. equities closed broadly lower, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) plunging nearly 3%. TSMC's American Depositary Receipt (TSM-US) also ended in the red, causing Taiwan's stock market (Taiwan Stock Exchange) to open weakly on Wednesday (11). The index dropped over 274 points at one point during early trading.

Later, as major electronics stocks rebounded, the decline narrowed, and the index briefly turned positive, rising over 50 points to reclaim the 45,000 level. However, gains stalled, and the midday trading level stood at 44,692.68 points, down 206 points or 0.64%, with an estimated trading volume of 1.2 trillion TWD.

Electronics-related sectors were notably weak today, with revenue-driven rallies among electronics blue chips largely fizzling out. Despite reporting record-high July revenues, TSMC (2327-TW) opened lower but later reversed to gain 15 TWD (0.63%). MediaTek (2454-TW) fell 3%, Nanya Technology (2408-TW) plunged nearly half its value, ASE Holding (3711-TW) dropped 2.7%, and both Compal Communications (2327-TW) and Hon Hai Precision (2317-TW) declined by 0.96%. In contrast, Grace Semiconductor (3443-TW) rose 6.4%.

Among high-priced 'thousand-dollar' stocks, Megachips (5274-TW), the stock with the highest share price, dipped 0.24%, while Chuan-Hu (5274-TW), benefiting from strong AI server demand and record July revenues, surged nearly to the daily limit. World Advanced Semiconductor (3661-TW) gained over 6%.

In the passive components sector, reports indicated that customers were willing to pay two to three times the price to secure sufficient supply, leading to aggressive long-term contract signings. As a result, Yageo Corporation *(2327-TW) surged nearly to the daily limit, while Walsin Technology (2492-TW), Hosen Electronics (3026-TW), and Sunlord Electronics (6173-TW) all rose over 3-4%.

Analysts noted that after a sharp rally in early August, the index faces heavy profit-taking pressure above the 45,000 level. Short-term resistance has re-emerged above the 20-day moving average, prompting investors to rely more on technical indicators. Market rotation has shifted toward rebounds in mid-to-large-cap electronics stocks that had previously seen deep corrections.

U.S. markets closed Monday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 60.95 points (-0.11%) at 53,975.98, the S&P 500 down 4.53 points (-0.06%) at 7,753.11, the Nasdaq Composite down 85.26 points (-0.32%) at 26,605.36, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 362.93 points (-2.94%) at 11,993.86. TSMC's ADR fell 1.55 USD (-0.37%) to close at 418.49 USD.