Taipei:Shares in Taiwan ended slightly lower Monday, recovering most of their earlier losses as buying in co-packaged optics (CPO) and shipping stocks offset selling in major semiconductor stocks.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Taiex, Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, closed down 11.48 points or 0.02 percent, at 49,301.96. The index fluctuated between 48,768.82 and 49,412.90, with a turnover of NT$843.93 billion (US$26.40 billion).

The market opened lower and initially fell over 540 points, influenced by a decline in large-cap semiconductor stocks. This was triggered by a 3.77 percent drop in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index over the previous Thursday and Friday, following reports that OpenAI's annualized revenue was about US$20 billion less than previously reported.

Concord Securities analyst Kerry Huang noted that funds rotated out of semiconductors and into other tech stocks, led by CPO-related stocks, aiding the market's partial recovery. Largan Precision Industry Co., involved in CPO development, surged 10 percent to NT$7,325.00, contributing to a 3.49 percent rise in the optoelectronics index.

Largan's performance positively impacted other optoelectronics stocks. Calin Technology Co. jumped 10 percent to NT$41.00, Zhong Yang Technology Co. increased by 7.63 percent to NT$55.00, and Ability Opto-Electronics Technology Co. gained 3.68 percent to NT$197.00.

Conversely, the semiconductor index fell 0.35 percent, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which holds over 40 percent of market capitalization. TSMC dropped 0.39 percent to NT$2,540.00, with the largest turnover of NT$51.59 billion. MediaTek Inc. fell 1.39 percent to NT$4,625.00, while ASE Technology Holding Co. rose 2.42 percent to NT$762.00.

Elsewhere in tech, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. declined 1.81 percent to NT$244.50, and Delta Electronics Inc. dropped 3.31 percent to NT$1,900.00.

Shipping stocks saw strong gains, with Evergreen Marine Corp. rising 10 percent to NT$255.50. Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. and Wan Hai Lines Ltd. increased by 6.53 percent and 8.52 percent to NT$63.60 and NT$121.00, respectively.

Petrochemical stocks underperformed as Formosa Plastics Corp. fell 0.74 percent to NT$80.70 and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. declined 2.26 percent to NT$303.00. The financial sector gained 2.87 percent, supported by Fubon Financial Holding Co., which rose 3.59 percent to NT$158.50, and Cathay Financial Holding Co., up 2.73 percent to NT$113.00.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange reported that foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$52.20 billion worth of shares on the main board on Monday.