Taiwan stocks down

Taiwan stocks fell 0.23 percent on Friday, with losses in US tech shares casting a shadow over the market despite upbeat September sales reports from companies such as AU Optronics Corp. The TAIEX share index closed with a loss of 13.97 points at 6,081.84, after a 0.64 percent fall in the previous session.
AU, the world's third largest display screen maker, rose 0.12 percent to T$41.90, erasing the last session's losses after reporting on Thursday September revenues jumped 69.6 percent from the same month last year.
"We have been weaker than other markets in these past two months, and while that was bad at the time, it gives us an advantage now that other markets are falling," said Tao Chi-wei, deputy manager of Futon Securities Investment advisory's institutional investor division.
"Quite a few electronics companies have posted record high September sales, so we expect this factor to continue affecting the market today and next week," Tao said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) reversed losses to end 0.37 percent higher before announcing after close of trade September revenues had risen 8.9 percent from a year ago to an all-time high.
But other foreign investor favourites ended lower after the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 0.90 percent on Thursday.
TSMC's main competitor, United Microelectronics Corp ended 1.16 percent lowers and was the day's most actively traded issue. Overall market turnover was moderate at T$67.51 billion, down from T$77.49 billion on Thursday's session.
Financial shares also extended losses after the government reiterated its goal of halving the number of state-controlled banks by the end of the year, but did not offer any concrete plans for mergers and acquisitions.
Taiwan Business Bank was the second most heavily traded issue and tumbled 2.85 percent to T$8.18. The Ministry of Finance failed to auction the bank last month, as bids had been unacceptable low. Megan Financial Holdings, Taiwan's second-largest listed financial firm, fell 0.99 percent to T$20.10.