Taiwan shares end lower on overnight U.S. stock losses

Taipei, March 5, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares ended lower yesterday on the back of overnight losses in U.S. stock markets, analysts said.

Meanwhile, tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the ongoing concerns over a possible war in Iraq also weighed on market sentiment, prompting investors to lock in profit following a 2.13% gain in the previous session.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange finished 27 points, or 0.6%, lower to 4499.69 in dealings valued at NT$44.03 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers 366 to 250, while 128 issues remained unchanged.

The electronics subindex finished 1.3% lower, tracking a 1.3% fall in the Nasdaq composite index and a 3.9% fall in the Philadelphia Semiconductor index overnight.

Two chip foundry giants, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and United Microelectronics led the declines. TSMC lost NT$0.60 to NT$43.60, and UMC gave up NT$0.50 to NT$19.60.

TSMC is expected to remain under pressure today after its board approved yesterday the distribution of 153.9 million bonus shares to its employees on 2002 earnings, which is higher than market expectations, analysts said.

Of other sectors, financial shares lost 0.7%, textiles fell 0.4%, and construction and paper sectors each declined 0.2%. However, transportation, steel and car issues ended trading higher.

Among active issues, Yulon Motor gained NT$2 to NT$44.20 after the company said its February revenue rose 74% on year to NT$2.93 billion in Feb. China Motor, an affiliate of Yulon Motor, advanced NT$3 to NT$62.50.

The price index of the over-the-counter market ended 0.83 point, or 0.89%, lower to 92.77 in dealings valued at NT$2.38 billion.

March index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed down 46 points to 4469 on turnover of 12,722 lots. March electronics futures shed 3.70 points to 179.80 on volume of 2,370 lots, while March financial futures edged down 0.20 point to 692.00 on turnover of 2,315 lots.