Taiwan stocks fell 0.1 percent on Wednesday, ending a three-day winning streak, with shares of Mediatek Inc slumping after the island's top chip designer cut its fourth-quarter sales forecast. The main TAIEX share index closed down 10.68 points at 8,156.39.
Turnover was thin at T$64.52 billion ($2 billion), down from T$74.78 billion the day before, due partly to lingering worries over domestic politics. "The Mediatek news is a negative factor, and on the political front, the verdict on Ma Ying-jeou is still a concern," said Jerry Chang, fund manager at National Investment Trust.
The Taiwan High Court is set to issue a verdict on Friday in presidential candidate Ma's corruption case. Mediatek shares fell 7 percent, their daily limit, pulling the broader electronics subindex 0.3 percent lower.
Investors also shunned LCD shares, following recent gains that were inspired by expectations of rising earnings next year amid the growing popularity of flat-screen televisions. AU Optronics Corp, the world's No 3 LCD panel maker, lost 1.2 percent and smaller rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp slid 0.9 percent.
But shares of Innolux Display rose 1 percent after media reported the company landed its first LCD orders from cellphone giant Nokia. Financials were up 0.4 percent. Hon Hai Precision Industry fell 0.5 percent after a report that a printed circuit board factory owned by Hon Hai caught fire in the Chinese city of Yantai, affecting at least 1 million square feet of production capacity.