Taiwan shares close down 0.41%

The weighted index fell 33.09 points to 7,851.31, after moving between 7,824.65 and 7,898.76, on turnover of NT$112.76 billion.

The market opened down 0.23 percent after Wall Street fell 1.03 percent, and selling increased as investors witnessed other regional markets suffering losses on fears that more-than-expected risky debt held by the European banking system will trigger another financial meltdown, the dealers said.

A total of 2,519 stocks closed down and 1,174 were up, with 320 remaining unchanged.

The construction sector posted the steepest fall, down 0.78 percent. Cement stocks lost 0.63 percent, financials fell 0.6 percent, textile stocks dropped 0.37 percent and machinery and electronics shares closed down 0.3 percent.

The foodstuff sector fell 0.06 percent and plastics and chemicals lost 0.04 percent, while the paper and pulp sector rose 1.69 percent.

“The local bourse reacted negatively to the decline on Wall Street, which had earlier reacted negatively to the European banking woes,” Hua Nan Securities analyst Henry Miao said. “As part of the global financial market, Taiwan cannot be isolated,” he added.

“However, compared with Wall Street, the local market appeared more resilient as active bargain hunting lent support to late trading,” Wang said.

Wang said the more-than NT$110 billion in daily turnover indicated that many investors remained willing to trade on high hopes that increasing cross-Taiwan Strait economic exchanges will boost the local economy.

“I expect the index will see some technical support at around the 7,800 point level in the short term once Wall Street stabilizes from its latest fall,” he said.

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