Taiwan stocks fell almost one percent on Wednesday as record high crude oil prices cast a pall over the market, though selective bargain-hunting in tech shares kept the index from sliding past last week's nearly one-year low.
The TAIEX share index lost 50.35 points, or 0.94 percent, to end at 5,316.87, stopping short of breaking through last week's nearly one-year intraday low of 5,280.42.
Financial shares were the biggest decliners as investors cashed out of gains that had been inspired by hopes of mergers. Mega Financial Holdings, Taiwan's second-largest listed financial firm, lost 1.57 percent.
However, battered display screen shares showed a rebound, with world number three player AU Optronics adding 1.56 percent to close at T$39 in heavy trade. But AU was still down 48 percent since mid-April on fears of weaker screen prices.
Turnover was lacklustre at just T$39.67 billion, testing a 14-month low and dwindling from Tuesday's T$44.9 billion.
Other defensive plays along with banking shares suffered from profit-taking after having provided a refuge from recent tech sector losses.
The over-the-counter market's TAISDAQ index fell 0.41 percent, while August TAIEX futures lost 28 points, or 0.53 percent, to close at 5,254.
Comments
Comments are closed.