UMC closed @ 111.50 unc vol 20,311,000
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march 2 net purchase of 3,564m shares
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Taiwan Shrs End Little Changed Amid Pre-Election Caution
TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan shares closed little changed Friday in thin dealings as political uncertainty ahead of the presidential elections March 18 kept many investors on the sidelines, analysts and traders said.
Worries over cross-straits tensions following threats of force from mainland China last week also continued to weigh on the bourse, they added.
The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed up only 44.21 points, or 0.46%, at 9588.03, with volume valued at NT$118.48 billion (US$1=NT$30.713).
Gainers outnumbered decliners 268 to 243, while 87 issues ended the day unchanged.
"We're trapped in a fairly tight range now," said Ralph Dixon, head of sales at Primasia Securities in Taipei, noting that more volume is needed for the market to generate any substantial upside.
Still, select buying of technology stocks, which account for 30% of total market capitalization, managed to nudge the main index a little higher, dealers said.
Among those stocks actively traded, Mosel Vitelic Inc. jumped NT$3.50 to NT$64.00 on volume of 125.6 million shares.
Investors have been rushing into memory chip stocks in recent dealings amid a rebound in prices for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips and on expectations that chipmakers will post strong earnings growth in the second half of the year. |
