Taiwan's main stocks declined after computer memory chip prices slid for a fourth day, damping earnings at semiconductor makers. Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) fell.
The TAIEX lost 13.16, or 0.3 percent, to 4647.37. Almost five stocks fell for every four that rose. The total value of trade was NT$50.3 billion.
The following stocks rose or fell:
Nanya Technology, the nation's largest maker of high-speed computer-memory chips, slipped NT$1, or 3.2 percent, to NT$30.50.
The price of a high-speed double-data-rate memory chip fell 0.3 percent to US$3.32. The chip operates at a speed of 266 megahertz, with capacity for 128 megabits of memory. Prices have fallen 3.5 percent since Friday.
"Market prices are falling, while prices for long-term customers are rising less and less because demand is weak," said Belinda Yu, who helps manage NT$8 billion (US$232 million) in stocks at Jih Sun Securities Investment Trust Co (日盛投信). "Once supply of high-speed chips picks up, those price gains will disappear." Ambit Microsystems Corp (國電) advanced after the maker of modems and power units received an order for 1 million high-speed modems from Yahoo Japan Corp., with shipments starting this month, a Chinese-language newspaper reported.
Ambit added NT$1, or 1 percent, to NT$104. The company's orders are rising, said Chief Financial Officer William Hsu.
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