Taiwan stocks erased early gains and ended 0.58 percent lower on Thursday, with airlines and shipping companies among the top losers as oil rose for a second session on an unexpected drop in crude inventories in the US. The main TAIEX index fell 51.96 points to 8,892.88, after opening flat. It had traded above 9,000 during the session. The transport sub-index was down 2.05 percent, while electronics shares and banking shares dropped 0.5 percent and 0.18 percent respectively.
Touch panel maker TPK ended up 4.7 percent after agreeing to buy a stake in fellow touch panel part maker Cando. Cando rose 10.66 percent on the secondary market.