Taiwan stocks retreat

Taiwan stocks retreated on Friday on profit-booking in recent gainers such Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). As of 0314 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.2 percent at 9,301.87 points. The index had touched its highest in more than 15 months in the previous session. The electronics subindex rose 0.1 percent, while the financial subindex lost 0.2 percent.
TSMC, the world's top contract chip maker and among the most bought shares by foreign investors this year, dipped 0.5 percent. The Taiwan dollar softened T$0.147 to T$31.677 per US dollar.