First Commercial leads a decline in the finance sector

The TAIEX gained yesterday, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) after the company raised its forecast for fourth-quarter shipments.

First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) led lenders' shares lower after Minister of Finance Lee Yung-san (李庸三) resigned, raising concern that reform of the financial industry will be delayed.

"Reforms in the financial market will stop for a while," said Lai Jan-hong, who helps manage NT$1.4 billion (US$40 million) in stocks at Entrust Investment Trust Corp (永昌投信). Lai said he sold stocks in finance companies such as Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) last week.

The TAIEX added 15.55, or 0.3 percent, to 4,723.16. The total value of trade was NT$58.43 billion, the lowest since Oct. 15. The Bank/Insurance Index fell 1.5 percent to 669.48.