Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed little changed Tuesday after moving in a narrow range throughout the session as investors shrugged off gains on the U.S. markets overnight, dealers said.

With the bellwether electronics sector serving as an anchor stabilizing the broader market, selling focused on old economy stocks amid growing concerns over the Chinese economy, the second largest in the world, in the wake of the latest slew of disappointing economic data, they said.

The Taiex, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), ended up 3.22 points, or 0.02 percent, at 15,420.57, after moving between 15,392.49 and 15,451.83. Turnover totaled NT$208.4 billion (US$6.95 billion).

The market opened up 0.11 percent and rose to the day's high in the early morning session on follow-through buying from a session earlier, when the Taiex rose 0.84 percent, dealers said.

Poor China data, power cuts

However, buying was capped, plunging the main board into consolidation mode for the rest of the session until the end of trading amid renewed concerns over China's economic momentum after Beijing surprisingly cut key lending rates Monday to shore up the economy after a series of ugly economic data, dealers added.

In July, China's retail sales rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, missing a market estimate of 5 percent, while industrial output grew 3.8 percent, below a market forecast of 4.6 percent on the back of its zero tolerance COVID-19 policy.

"Selling in old economy stocks, including the steel industry, today reflected worries over weakening demand from China as its economy is slowing amid COVID-19," equity market analyst Andy Hsu said.

"Sichuan's power suspension to the industrial sector, the latest blow to the China economy, made many local investors more nervous, preventing them from chasing prices after yesterday's rally," Hsu said.

The steel sector lost 0.83 percent amid fears over suppliers' pricing power due to expected weaker demand. China Steel Corp., the largest steel maker in Taiwan, lost 0.51 percent to close at NT$29.00, and Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp. fell 0.55 percent to end at NT$54.30. Chung Hung Steel Corp. and Ta Chen Stainless Pipe Co. faced more downward pressure, falling 1.45 percent and 1.75 percent, respectively, to close at NT$27.20 and NT$39.20.

In the transportation sector, which lost 1.30 percent, Evergreen Marine Corp., the largest container cargo shipper in Taiwan, shed 2.41 percent to end at NT$97.10, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. fell 1.71 percent to close at NT$86.00, and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. lost 1.58 percent to end at NT$99.90.

With rising hopes the government will ease border controls soon, shares in EVA Airways bucked the downturn in the transportation sector, rising 1.58 percent to close at NT$32.00, and China Airlines remained resilient, ending unchanged at NT$21.90.

"Fortunately, select large cap tech stocks, in particular contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), moved above their previous closing levels, offsetting the losses incurred by old economy stocks," Hsu said. "The local tech sector has been a market laggard compared with American tech stocks."

With its American depositary receipts (ADRs) up 0.78 percent on U.S. markets overnight, TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock on the local market, rose 0.38 percent to close at NT$525.00. Led by TSMC, the electronics sector rose 0.09 percent with the semiconductor sub-index up 0.23 percent.

Application-specific IC (ASIC) designer Alchip Technologies Ltd. gained 2.08 percent to end at NT$786.00, and IC packaging and testing services provider ASE Technology Holding Co. added 0.22 percent to close at NT$90.70, while United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller contract chipmaker, lost 1.03 percent to end at NT$43.05.

Also in the tech sector, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. lost 0.89 percent to close at NT$111.00, and power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc. dropped 0.55 percent to end at NT$272.50.

While the broader market remained in the doldrums, buying also rotated to the biotech sector, which rose 3.27 percent, but due to its smaller weighting the gains failed to boost the Taiex, dealers said.

Panion & BF Biotech Inc. soared 10 percent, the maximum daily increase, to close at NT$137.50, and Chunghwa Chemical Synthesis & Biotech Co. gained 3.21 percent to end at NT$57.90.

"There are no signs institutional investors have returned to buy due to a rate hike cycle by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed)," Hsu said. "I expect turnover on the local equity market to remain low, and the Taiex is likely to face high technical hurdles ahead of 15,616 points, the intraday low on May 12."

According to the TWSE, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$5.64 billion worth of shares on the main board Tuesday after net sales of NT$5.05 billion on Monday.