Taiwan stocks fell 1.03 percent on Wednesday as Microsoft's delay of the release of a new operating system, Vista, curbed demand for shares in DRAM, microchip and personal computer makers.
The main TAIEX share index declined 66.77 points to 6,391.26, with turnover of T$80.517 billion (US $2.49 billion). The electronics sub-index fell 1.37 percent, while the bank and insurance index edged down 0.99 percent. Blue chip heavyweights TSMC and UMC dropped, tracking losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq on Tuesday.
"Foreign investors sold index heavyweights after the poor performance on Wall Street," said Chiang Chen-sheng, manager of MasterLink Investment Advisory.
"Another negative factor was news that Microsoft delayed the launch of its Vista, and that triggered selling among chipmakers and PC makers," he said.
Foreign and domestic investors also locked in profits in recent high-fliers such as solar cell maker Motech Industries and analysts said they expected the market to consolidate for two more weeks.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, lost 1.49 percent while smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) declined 0.79 percent.
PC maker Acer fell by 2.14 percent, affected by Microsoft's delay of Vista. Compal Electronics Inc, the world's second largest contract maker of laptop computers, also lost 3.07 percent. DRAM maker Nanya Technology Corp fell 2.73 percent.
Motech Industries fell the daily 7 percent maximum to T$780 on profit-taking. Formosa Petrochemical Corp shares fell 0.52 percent after the firm posted a 41 percent fall in` quarterly profit.
China Steel Corp shares declined 0.17 percent after the company reported a 67 percent drop in quarterly profit on Tuesday. High Tech Computer (HTC) reversed from earlier losses and advanced 0.93 percent to T$870.