TSMC sales report triggers market dip as most buyers exercise some caution

Stocks fell, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) after the world's largest supplier of made-to-order chips said November sales dropped from the previous month.

Stocks also slipped after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had its biggest drop in more than a month.

"There'll be little good news coming out of the electronics sector during the soft season over the next couple of months," said Aaron Wu, who manages about NT$1.5 billion in stocks at ABN Amro Asset Management Taiwan Ltd.

Wu's buying shares of China Steel Corp (中鋼) and "niche non-computer electronics stocks, such as makers of light-emitting diode for mobile phones."

The TAIEX shed 68.66, or 1.4 percent, to close at 4,755.01. Eleven stocks fell for every eight that rose. The total value of trade was NT$90.03 billion (US$2.58 billion).

TSMC fell NT$2, or 3.9 percent, to NT$50.