Taiwan equities finished in negative territory on Thursday, with the benchmark Taiwan Weighted index retreating 2.31% at the close. Market participants attributed the downturn to broad weakness, including losses in the , Plastic and Optoelectronic sectors that pressured the market.
Among individual performers, AOPEN Inc (TW:3046) topped the list of advancers, rising 9.98% or 5.30 points to settle at 58.40. GEM Services Inc (TW:6525) climbed 9.95% or 20.00 points to close at 221.00, while Spirox Corp (TW:3055) gained 9.66% or 15.50 points to finish at 176.00.
On the downside, Sigurd Microelectronics Corp (TW:6257) led losses, falling 11.36% or 31.00 points to end the session at 242.00. Hong Pu Real Estate Development Co Ltd (TW:2536) dropped 10.88% or 2.35 points to close at 19.25, and Nichidenbo Corp (TW:3090) declined 10.00% or 34.00 points to 306.00.
The market breadth reading in the session was recorded as follows: Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Taiwan Stock Exchange by 0 to 0.
Both GEM Services Inc (TW:6525) and Spirox Corp (TW:3055) registered fresh all-time highs during the session, with GEM Services closing at 221.00 and Spirox at 176.00 following their respective advances.
Commodities registered mixed moves. Crude oil for August delivery decreased 0.67% or 0.49 to trade at $73.03 a barrel. Brent oil for September delivery fell 0.54% or 0.42 to $77.60 a barrel. Gold futures for August rose 0.24% or 9.77 to trade at $4,092.17 a troy ounce.
On the foreign exchange front, USD/TWD was higher by 0.13%, moving to 32.10. The TWD/CNY rate was unchanged in percentage terms at 0.19% to 0.21. The US Dollar Index Futures showed a modest decline of 0.05%, trading at 100.71.
Thursday's session highlighted divergence between individual stock moves and broader market direction: several stocks produced double-digit percentage moves to the upside, including two new highs, but these were not sufficient to offset larger declines elsewhere in the index.
Investors will likely monitor whether sector-level weakness persists in coming sessions and how currency and commodity shifts interact with equity market volatility.