Taiwan stocks shed 3.54 percent to end at a nine-month closing low on Monday, paced by bellwethers such as TSMC, as a Wall Street slide and the island's elections due early next year stirred investor concerns of a slowdown in Taiwan's economy.
The main TAIEX share index dropped 287.23 points to 7,830.85, a level not seen since March 28, extending its slide to 20 percent from a seven-year closing high hit late in October.
Trading remained cautious, with turnover light at T$115.8 billion ($3.6 billion). Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, fell 0.5 percent. LCD maker AU Optronics tumbled 6.94 percent, its daily limit. "Most investors were reluctant to buy stocks on uncertainty about the US subprime fallout as well as Taiwan's major elections coming up soon," said analyst Kevin Chung of Jih Sun Investment Consulting.
He added that the main index had little upside potential this week. Taiwan is scheduled to hold a legislative election in January and a presidential election in March. Innolux Display, a unit of Taiwan's biggest maker of electronics gear, Hon Hai Precision, fell 6.57 percent.
Innolux will build an LCD monitor assembly line in Vietnam with initial investment of more than US $100 million, and is considering building an LCD panel plant there, the Commercial Times reported.
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