Taiwan shares finish lower on profit-taking ahead of holiday

Taipei, Jan. 28, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares ended lower yesterday as investors began to lock in profits ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, analysts said.

Today is the last trading day for Taiwan's main stock market and the over-the-counter bourse before they close for an eight-day break for the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 1.

Meanwhile, the latest losses on Wall Street and the lingering concern over a U.S.-led war against Iraq also hurt market sentiment, said analysts.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 85.73 points, or 1.68%, to 4972.59 in dealings valued at NT$92.63 billion. Decliners outnumbered gainers 510 to 162, while 77 issues ended trading unchanged.

Old economy stocks, such as paper & pulp, cement, transportation and textiles, paced the decline as investors squared their position before the week-long holiday, said analysts.

The paper & pulp sector lost 6.26%, cement shares dropped 5.9%, transportation issues fell 4.8%, textiles gave up 3.6% and the steel sector was down 2%.

The transportation issues fell, even though China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier, completed Sunday the island's first commercial flight to China in more than five decades, a journey which many hope will lead to the opening of direct transportation links between Taiwan and the mainland.

China Airlines ended down NT$0.10 to NT$16.80, while its rival, EVA Airways, lost NT$0.50 to NT$15.10.

The electronics subindex edged down 0.8%, as they tracked their U.S. counterparts.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. ended down NT$0.50 to NT$48.90, while United Microelectronics Corp. shed NT$0.40 to NT$21.20.

Financial shares lost 1.8%, led by government-controlled banks and financial holding companies. Among them, Chang Hwa Bank lost NT$0.70 to NT$18.30, First Financial Holding fell NT$1.10 to NT$27.10 and Hua Nan Financial Holding slid NT$1.10 to NT$26.70.

The smaller over-the-counter stock market lost 1.60 points, or 1.57%, to 100.49 in dealings valued at NT$5.81 billion.

February index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed down 107 points to 4956 on turnover of 14,389 lots. February electronics futures slipped 1.50 points to 195.80 on volume of 4,299 lots, while February financial futures shed 8.40 points to 816.60 on turnover of 7,367 lots.