By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe TAIEX edged up 0.04 percent to close at 14 932.93 on the last trading day ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday 《TAIPEI TIMES》TAIEX ends with a whimper in the Year of the Tiger - 焦點 - - 趣味新聞網

A woman holds the Year of the Rabbit decorations in front of an electronic stock board at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

The TAIEX edged up 0.04 percent to close at 14,932.93 on the last trading day ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, but posted a 15.51 percent decline during the Year of the Tiger.

The index lost 2,741.47 points over the lunar calendar year, slashing the main board’s market value by NT$8.1 trillion （US$267.19 billion）, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

Trading on the main board was volatile during the Year of the Tiger.

HEADWINDS

The TAIEX peaked at 18,338.05 on Feb. 10 last year, but lost steam amid headwinds such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation, major central banks’ interest rate hikes and companies’ inventory adjustments, before bottoming out at 12,629.48 on Oct. 25, the data showed.

The market capitalization of listed companies totaled NT$46.87 trillion yesterday, down 14.7 percent from the last trading day of the Year of the Ox.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co （TSMC, 台積電） remained the nation’s largest company by market capitalization, although it lost NT$3.44 trillion to end the Year of the Tiger at NT$13.04 trillion.

Companies in the cable and wire, tourism, biotech and pharmaceuticals, automobiles and chemicals sectors recorded higher increases in share prices compared with other industries, the data showed.

WORST PERFORMER

The transportation sector posted the worst decline of 29.36 percent, followed by the semiconductor sector’s 23.23 percent drop, the data showed.

Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.07 trillion of local shares in the Year of the Tiger, the third consecutive lunar calendar year of net selling, the data showed.

The local bourse is likely to rebound in the Year of the Rabbit, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise Co （PGIM, 保德信投信） said in a note yesterday, adding that foreign institutional investors are expected to resume buying of Taiwanese equities.

Foreign investors have bought a net NT$125.57 billion of local shares so far this year, the highest among all Asian stock markets, PGIM said.

Technology and electronic components stocks could rebound in the second quarter of this year due to stabilizing inflation, China’s reopening and recovering consumer demand, PGIM said.

新聞來源： TAIPEI TIMES

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