Taiwan stocks finish at 15-month low

Taiwan stocks closed down 0.7 percent and turnover dipped to a 15-month low on Monday, weighed by concerns over rising oil prices and fears of poor corporate earnings in the remainder of the interim reporting season.
The main TAIEX share index lost 37.92 points to end at 5,352.01 and turnover shrivelled to T$27.33 billion, as big tech exporters like AU Optronics Corp pulled the bellwether electronics sub-index 1.02 percent lower.
"Investors were reluctant to step into the market because of higher oil prices. What's more, people were worried about poor quarterly results from some smaller local companies," said Alvin Teng, assistant research manager at Sinopac Securities.
The index has fallen about 19 percent since late April when China moved to cool its booming economy and investors turned pessimistic on the outlook for the technology industry.
Despite gains in US peers, display screen maker AU slid 2.08 percent to T$37.60 and world's number-two contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp lost 0.46 percent to finish at T$21.60.
US stocks closed slightly higher on Friday but stayed near lows for the year as oil prices surged past $46 a barrel, offsetting a positive outlook from Dell Inc.
Rising oil prices are threatening Taiwan with inflationary pressure and higher production costs as the island imports virtually all of its energy needs.
Local suppliers to Dell lost ground even after the world's largest personal computer maker said profits rose 29 percent and offered an upbeat outlook, which came at the expense of rival Hewlett-Packard Co.
For example, Quanta Computer, the world's largest contract maker of laptop computers, fell 4.39 percent to T$54.50 and its smaller rival Compal Electronics was off 4.10 percent at T$28.10.
Investors are worried more local companies will report poor quarterly profits by the end-August deadline, after Compal posted a 35 percent drop in second-quarter net profit last week.
Still, small-cap defensive stocks such as cement and textile shares attracted buying in anticipation of rising demand amid a recovering global economy.
Taiwan Cement was among the top out-performers, as its share price rose 0.65 percent to end at T$15.60.
The over-the-counter TAISDAQ index closed down 0.41 percent at 106.09, and August TAIEX futures edged 0.43 percent lower to close at 5,333.