Taiwan shares end lower on profit-taking

Taipei, Aug. 6, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares ended lower yesterday on profit taking after recent gains, analysts said.

Investors chose to lock in profits as there were no convincing fresh leads to encourage them to build up positions, said analysts.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange dropped 117.74 points, or 2.19%, to 5259.45 in dealings valued at NT$87.68 billion. Declining shares outnumbered advancers 577 to 103, while 80 issues remained unchanged.

The market opened firmer on support for select technology stocks amid solid July sales futures, but profit-taking emerged late in the session due to a lack of fresh leads, eroding early gains.

The electronics sector led the declines, with its subindex sliding 2.8%.

Chip foundries Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing was down NT$1.50 to NT$58.50 and United Microelectronics fell NT$0.70 to NT$23.50.

IC designer MediaTek closed down NT$22 to NT$405 on profit-taking due to concerns over its third-quarter outlook.

DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology was down NT$0.70 to NT$26 after a media report said that the U.S.-based Kingston Technology is cutting orders from the company.

Of other sectors, cement issues were down 2.72%, steel stocks slipped 1.9%, and financial shares lost 1.43%.

China Steel was down NT$0.50 to NT$24 ahead of an after-hours auction of its shares by the government.

The price index of the over-the-counter market was down 2.11 points, or 1.87%, to 111.00 in dealings valued at NT$13.73 billion.

August index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed down 101 points to 5269 on turnover of 37,520 lots. August electronics futures shed 6.40 points to 234 on volume of 4,307 lots, while August financial futures declined 9.60 points to 685.40 on turnover of 2,000 lots.