Taiwan stocks ended down 0.04 percent on Wednesday, but Fubon Financial led banking shares higher on investor hopes the banking sector will soon get the green light soon to invest in the red-hot China market. The main TAIEX share index inched 2.75 points lower to end at 7,550.55, with the financial sub-index rising 0.69 percent.
The electronics sub-index slipped 0.49 percent as concerns lingered that the US subprime mortgage meltdown will hurt US demand for tech products. "Taiwan banks will definitely benefit from the lifting of the ban, as that sets the foothold for them in the huge China market," said Julian Chen, who manges T$1.9 billion ($60 million) for Invesco Taiwan Ltd.
Expectation for approval from Taiwan's banking regulator before March 22 presidential elections have fuelled a 9 percent rally in the financial sub-index so far this year.
Fubon Financial Holdings widely expected to be Taiwan's first bank to enter China since it already has an offshore subsidiary, Fubon Bank (Hong Kong) jumped 3.3 percent. Chinatrust Financial, which has a representative office in China, rose 1.2 percent.
Nanya Tech dipped 0.29 percent after a local report said it was in talks on a possible strategic tie-up with Micron Technology, the largest US maker of memory chips. Acer Inc, the world's No 3 PC vendor, ended 2 percent higher after local media reported Acer planned to start selling low-cost laptop this year.
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