Taiwan shares end lower on war fears

Taipei, Feb. 20, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares opened high but closed lower yesterday, as investors chose to lock in profits on lingering concerns of a war in Iraq, erasing early gains, analysts said.

Heavy selling by institutional investors on the main market also weighed down market sentiment, said analysts. Foreign investors sold a net of NT$1.3 billion worth of shares and the domestic securities houses sold a net of NT$418 million worth of shares on the big board yesterday.

The benchmark price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange lost 54.48 points, or 1.2%, to 4550.83 in dealings valued at NT$65.26 billion. A total of 480 issues finished lower, 144 higher, and 122 issues unchanged.

All of the major stock categories lost ground, with paper & pulp and steel sectors leading the decline.

Paper & pulp stocks, which had outperformed the market in recent weeks on rising product prices, ended trading 5.2% lower.

Taiwan Pulp & Paper slipped NT$0.50 to NT$7.15, Chung Hwa Pulp tumbled NT$1.30 to NT$17.80 and Yuen Foong Yu Paper lost NT$0.95 to NT$13.10.

Steel stocks lost 3.8%, with China Steel paced the downward trend, giving up NT$0.70 to NT$22.50. Yieh Phui went limit-down of NT$2.30 to NT$30.90.

The electronics subindex was down 0.9%, led by chip foundry United Microelectronics Corp.

UMC, the world's second largest dedicated chipmaker, moved down NT$0.30 to NT$20, while its rival, TSMC, edged up NT$0.10 to NT$43.

The price index of the over-the-counter market ended 0.60 point, or 0.63%, lower in dealings valued at NT$3.98 billion.

March index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed down 86 points to 4531 on turnover of 17,974 lots. March electronics futures declined 2.70 points to 183 on volume of 3,723 lots, while March financial futures fell 13 points to 702 on turnover of 5,059 lots.