Wednesday January 30, 1:55 PM
Taiwan stocks end down on Nasdaq, Lunar holidays
(Updates closing indices, adds comment)
sg.biz.yahoo.com
TAIPEI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks closed lower for the second straight session on Wednesday as Nasdaq's losses overnight hurt local tech issues and cautious investors stayed away ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, analysts said.
The main TAIEX <.TWII> share index ended down 33.52 points, or 0.57 percent, at 5,812.67, retreating further from a nearly one-year high at Monday's close.
Turnover fell to T$114.74 billion from T$127.24 billion in the previous session.
However, the TAIEX is still up nearly 70 percent since its nine-year low in early October.
"Investors who don't want to hold stocks during the holidays were standing on the sell side, but state funds were active to support the market during the session," said Hsieh Chih-mao, portfolio manager of Ting Kong Securities' proprietary trading department.
The market opened at an intraday low, slipping 1.8 percent, but govenrment-linked funds swiftly set in to prop up prices and cushioned the fall in the overall market.
Hsieh said the market will consolidate ahead of the holidays, swinging between 5,500-6,000 points. Taiwan's stock market will close on February 7 and reopen on February 18.
The heavily weighted electronics sub-index <.TELI> fell 0.94 percent, taking its cue from a 2.62 percent decline on the U.S. tech-packed Nasdaq <.IXIC> on Tuesday as fears of hidden corporate accounting problems overshadowed upbeat data on consumer confidence and durable goods orders. |
