Taiwan stocks fell 0.23 percent on Thursday, ending a four-session winning streak, as a sharp rise in the Taiwan dollar pressured technology exporters such as contract chip maker TSMC. The main TAIEX share index ended 11.61 points lower at 5,035.93, retreating from a five-month intraday high during the session as investors locked in profits from recent advances on the market.
Turnover was at T$116.8 billion ($3.5 billion), slightly lower than T$119.4 billion in the previous session. The electronics sub-index fell 0.77 percent, while TSMC, the worlds top contract chipmaker, lost 2.38 percent. Shares of Powerchip and Nanya Tech, Taiwans top DRAM makers, fell 5.31 percent and 2.33 percent.
While a steep rise in the Taiwan dollar weighed on tech shares, financial and construction company stocks benefited from the appreciation of the currency. Foreign institutions have bought about T$27.5 billion worth of local stocks over the past six sessions.
The construction sub-index, the top winner of sub-indexes, surged 5.97 percent. The financial sub-index rose 1.89 percent, with Cathay Financial, the islands top financial holding firm and the most active share by turnover, up 5.46 percent. Financial shares were also lifted by a 10 percent jump in their US counterparts after the US Federal Reserve said it would buy up t o$300 billion in long-term treasury bonds, the first such large-scale purchase in four decades to help resuscitate lending.