Taiwan shares end down on selling of foreign investors

Taipei, June 12, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares snapped a four-session winning streak to close lower yesterday on concerns that foreign investors may start to lock in profits from their recent gains, analysts said.

Technology stocks, with chip foundries in particular, were under pressure following an earnings warning from U.S. chip giant Texas Instruments, said analysts.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange dropped 27.55 points, or 0.57%, to 4804.65 in dealings valued at NT$109.97 billion. Decliners outnumbered gainers 333 to 276, while 126 issues remained unchanged.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and United Microelectronics led the losses after foreign investors sold a net of around NT$850 million worth of shares in the local bourse Tuesday.

TSMC fell NT$1 to NT$56.50, while UMC was down NT$1.10 to NT$22.60.

An earnings warning by Texas Instruments also damped sentiment toward electronics stocks, said analysts. On Tuesday, Texas Instruments said it expects second-quarter sales to grow 5% from the previous quarter, down from a previous forecast of 7%.

Notebook computer maker Compal Electronics, however, bucked the decline trend to end NT$1.60 higher at NT$44.90 after the company said its revenue in the third and fourth quarters could grow 20% to 30% quarter-on-quarter.

Of other sectors, steel stocks lost 0.9%, while automobile shares gained 1.6%, paper issues added 1%, cement stocks were up 0.5%, and financial shares added 0.1%.

On the over-the-counter market, the price index ended down 0.10 point, of 0.1%, to 95.83 in dealings valued at NT$13.29 billion.

June index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed down 26 points to 4795 on turnover of 25,464 lots. June electronics futures fell 2.10 points to 205.05 on volume of 2,624 lots, while June financial futures slid 1.40 points to 702.60 on turnover of 2,867 lots.