Taiwan stocks fall

Taiwan stocks closed 0.59 percent lower on Wednesday with contract chip maker TSMC and high-priced issues such as Hon Hai falling as signs of rising US inflation damped down tech exporters. The TAIEX share index lost 53.32 points to end at 9,015.57, following a near-1-percent drop for the Nasdaq
The loss comes after Tuesday's 2.4 percent fall as investors unwound positions from a recent rally following the election of President Ma Ying-jeou. Ma, inaugurated on Tuesday, is widely expected to foster business relationships with the mainland.
The electronics sub-index fell 0.53 percent, while the bank and insurance sub-index declined 0.83 as the market pulled further away from its 2008 closing high on Monday.
"Selling pressure is not as bad in Taiwan compared to other markets. After the presidential inauguration, the market is going back to fundamentals, and we expect to see an upward trend after June," said Mega Securities Vice President Alex Huang, who expects the TAIEX to trade between 8,900-9,150 points this week.
Shares worth T$138.14 billion ($4.5 billion) changed hands, less active than T$178.65 billion in the previous session. Further declines in Taiwan stocks could bring out the buyers. Media reports quoted an executive at Singapore's Blackhorse Asset Management as saying a drop in the TAIEX below the 9,000 mark would represent a buying opportunity. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.32 percent, while smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) dropped 2.3 percent after their US-listed shares declined.
Shares of top electronics manufacturer Hon Hai, which counts Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell as major clients, fell 1.13 percent. Shares in top smartphone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) fell 1.97 percent even after the company said it was making a major investment in its research and development resources and expected sales to rise up to 30 percent this year. Shares of the company have risen more than 41 percent so far this year.
Acer Inc shares were down 2.95 percent after SanDisk Corp dropped a lawsuit which had accused the Taiwan company of infringing patents used in memory cards for cameras, cellphones and USB drives.