Taiwan shares down 0.20% after investors pocket profits

The weighted index fell 15.77 points to 7,835.54, after fluctuating between 7,817.87 and 7,903.47, on turnover of NT$118.39 billion.

The market opened up 0.64 percent, reflecting Wall Street's 0.45 percent rise, but profit taking emerged during the trade as investors started to dump select old economy stocks, which eroded the early gains amid lingering concerns over the global economy, dealers said.

A total of 2,273 stocks closed down and 1,391 up, while 338 remained unchanged.

The construction sector suffered the heaviest losses, dropping 1.28 percent. Foodstuffs lost 0.94 percent, paper and pulp stocks fell 0.93 percent, financials dropped 0.56 percent, and plastics and chemical stocks shed 0.52 percent.

The cement sector closed down 0.2 percent, while the textile sector rose 0.29 percent, and the machinery and electronics sector gained 0.24 percent.

Concord Securities analyst Allen Lin said that Wall Street's rebound was slight as investors kept their fingers crossed over a new US$350-billion stimulus package proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama.

“Few can be sure whether and how the new economic package will work,” Lin said, “Wall Street, therefore, encountered profit taking in late trade and the local bourse followed suit.”

Selling on the local market focused on select traditional industrial stocks that outperformed the broader market, Lin said.

Lin said worries over a slowdown of the global economic recovery still weighed on market sentiment.

“Taiwan's electronic sector is feeling the direct effects of weakening global demand, that's why many investors have been reluctant to raise their high tech holdings,” Lin said.

Lin said the bellwether electronics sector has appeared lackluster recently, therefore, the broader market has failed to break through the technical resistance hurdle of around 7,900 points.

Among old economy stocks, Oceanic Beverages plunged 6.93 percent to NT$24.85, Evergreen Marine dropped 4.42 percent to NT$20.55 and Prince Housing fell 1.95 percent to NT$20.10.

In the high tech sector, IC designer MediaTek fell 1.18 percent to NT$461.50, while flat panel maker AU Optronics rose 3.44 percent to NT$30.05 on August sales recovery.

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