Taiwan stocks fell on Thursday, ahead of the inauguration of the island's new president, on uncertainty over how she would deal with China, Taiwan's largest trading partner, and also tracking weak regional bourses. Tsai Ing-wen, whose independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) party won a landslide victory in January, will make her inaugural speech on Friday.
The speech will be widely watched by investors who fear that if Beijing is not satisfied with her words, the island's economic ties with China would sour further. As of 0333 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.6 percent at 8,107.90, after closing up 0.2 percent in the previous session.