Taiwan shares end marginally lower on profit taking

Taipei, Aug. 20, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares ended marginally lower yesterday as profit taking emerged late in the session and erased early gains buoyed by a rally on Wall Street overnight, analysts said.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 4.64 points, or 0.1%, to 5512.16 in dealings valued at NT$119.82 billion. Declining shares outnumbered advancers 403 to 262, while 114 stocks ended trading flat.

Analysts said that local investors were prompted to sell stocks after the main index failed to break the 5600 mark, despite heavy buying from foreign institutional investors.

The electronics subindex ended trading 0.4% higher following overnight gains of the U.S. tech stocks.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing gained NT$1 to NT$62.50, but United Microelectronics edged down NT$01.0 to NT$24.50.

Chipset makers VIA Technologies gained NT$0.50 to NT$54.50 and Silicone Integrated Systems rose NT$0.90 to NT$26.

However, flat panel maker AU Optronics fell NT$1 to NT40.50, Chunghwa Picture Tubes was down NT$0.90 to NT$17.60.

Of other sectors, steel issues were up 1.06%, construction stocks gained 1%, while paper shares were down 3%, and the financial sector slid 0.6%.

The price index of the over-the-counter market ended down 0.66 points, or 0.6%, to 111.99 in dealings valued at NT$14.67 billion.

September index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed up eight points to 5547 on turnover of 21,247 lots. August electronics futures gained 1.75 points, to 247.75 on volume of 2,470 lots, while August financial futures shed four points to 719.40 on turnover of 1,920 lots.