UMC closed @ 195.50 -7.00 vol 112,308,254
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TAIWAN WEIGHTED closed @8866.80 -507.81 (-5.42%)
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Taiwan Shrs End -5.4% At 8866.80 On Wall Street Plunge
TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan shares closed sharply lower for the fifth straight session Saturday as investors heavily cut holdings following overnight plunges on Wall Street, said analysts.
The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended down 507.81 points, or 5.4%, at 8866.80 in dealings valued at NT$155.72 billion (US$1=NT$30.495). Saturday's fall was the second largest daily point drop this year. The market shed 617 points on March 13 when rival China threatened that it would use the force if Taiwan elects a new government which supports independence.
Decliners outnumbered advancers 554 to 27, while 13 issues ended the day unchanged.
"Market focus remains on the movement of the U.S. stock markets," said Golden Huang, a senior analyst at National Capital Management Corp. He predicted that the bellwether index will dive to 8500 points next Monday with such weak sentiment.
The market opened sharply lower and fell to the intraday low of 8780.08 half an hour before the closing bell. The market remained on negative territory throughout the session.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 617.78 points, or 5.7%, to close at 10305.77, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 355.49 points, or 9.7%, at 3321.29 points.
Taiwan investors usually take their cue from the U.S. markets in trading local technology shares as the U.S. is the island's largest exports destination.
All sectors lost ground Saturday.
The financial sector slid 5.3%, the construction sector dropped 5.8%, paper shares were off 5.3%, the technology sector shed 5.4%, the steel sector was down 4% and auto stocks fell 4.6%.
Among the most active shares, chipmaker Mosel Vitelic Inc. fell NT$1 to NT$80.5; United Microelectronics Corp. plunged NT$7, or the daily 7% limit, to NT$95.5; and Macronix International Corp. dropped NT$1.5 to NT$87.5.
May futures on the Taiwan Futures Exchange ended at 8819 on volume of 1120 lots, down from 9430 in the previous session.
In Singapore, SGX Taiwan May futures contracts ended the day at 373.0 on volume of 37 lots, down from the previous close of 397.9. |
