Taiwan stocks fell 0.3 percent on Friday as investors left the market before a slew of domestic quarterly earnings, but cellphone plays such as Wintek Corp rose following Nokia's solid earnings.
Taiwan's main TAIEX was trapped in a tight range before ending down 25.35 points at 9,611.72. Lower turnover of T$139.0 billion ($4.3 billion) reflected investors' cautious mood after rising by about a fifth from a trough in mid-August.
Among major winners, smartphone maker High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) shot up 2.6 percent and Wintek, which supplies small panels for mobile phones, jumped 3.6 percent, lifting the bellwether technology sub-index 0.4 percent.
But the financial sub-index was off 0.6 percent. "Nokia's results gave a boost to the handset sector, but what I am still concerned about is if big tech companies will tell us some good news next week," said Sinopac Securities analyst Alvin Teng, who pegged the TAIEX at 9,600-9,750 points next week.
Several of Taiwan's major electronics firms, including AU Optronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), are set to announce third-quarter profits and give guidance for the fourth quarter next week.
One key focus will be the possibility that electronics orders might will affected by a slowdown in US consumption if the subprime mortgage market woes persist. Shares of LCD maker AU gained 2.1 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings next Monday. Chi Mei shares dropped 0.6 percent despite the firm giving an upbeat forecast on global panel shipments.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering gained 1.1 percent after a report that the world's top chip packager expects its revenue to grow at least 20 percent next year. Yang Ming Marine Transport fell 1.1 percent despite a report that the firm expects its profit for 2008 to at least double from this year's level, amid improvement in the shipping industry.