Taiwan stocks fall

Taiwan stocks fell 1.38 percent on Thursday to back off a near 16-month closing high on Wednesday as doubts about the outlook for tech firms prompted some profit taking on recent gains. The main TAIEX share index closed 105.35 points lower at 7,503.31 following three days of gains. Turnover was T$161 billion ($5 billion), roughly in line with Wednesday.
"Taiwan stocks paused for breath after their latest set of gains, with technology shares contributing to the session's fall as their sales have peaked and have mostly been factored in by the market," said John Chiu, a vice president at Fuh Hwa Securities Investment Trust.
UMC, the world's second-largest contract chipmaker, dropped 3.14 percent ahead of its September sales report. After the market had closed, the company reported September sales rose 18 percent from a year earlier. The electronics sub-index fell 1.93 percent. Citigroup gave a bearish outlook for UMC, saying the company could face growing pricing pressure from rivals. Shares in TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.93 percent.
Topping the list of most-active stocks by turnover was chip designer Mediatek, which shed 4.39 percent even after reporting on Wednesday a 16 percent increase in September sales from a year earlier. Smartphone maker HTC shed 3.33 percent after analysts from Goldman Sachs and HSBC lowered their ratings and target price on the firm on worries about its shrinking market share and smaller margins.
Notebook PC makers, such as Acer and Asustek, also came under pressure after Microsoft said on Wednesday the effect of its next-generation Windows 7 operating system on PC sales could be muted.
Acer was down 0.24 percent, while smaller rival Asustek slipped a bigger 1.96 percent. The broader computer and peripherals sub-index was down 1.79 percent. However, firms with large land assets, including Yulon Motor and Formosan Rubber, jumped 2.16 percent and 3.88 percent, respectively, following a stronger local dollar. Contract laptop PC maker Inventec climbed 0.76 percent after a newspaper reported that it will form a joint venture with TPV Technology to manufacture All-In-One desktop PCs.