TSMC leads TAIEX down

The TAIEX fell for a second day yesterday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) slid on concern a gain in the New Taiwan dollar may hurt their sales after a call by US President George W. Bush to let market forces determine currency values in Asia.

The TAIEX fell 14.04, or 0.2 percent, to 5,924.38. It fell as much as 0.4 percent and rose as much as 0.7 percent in earlier trading. Rising and falling stocks were about even. The futures contract for October delivery fell 0.5 percent to 5,950.

Bush will attend the meeting of the APEC forum in Bangkok next week. Officials in the US, Taiwan's second-largest export market, have been calling for central banks in China and Japan to ease sales of their currencies aimed at keeping their exports competitive.

"There's pressure for the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate in the future, meaning lower gross margins at electronics exporters," said Julian Chen, who manages equity funds totaling US$56 million at National Investment Trust Co in Taipei.

Evergreen Marine fell NT$1.70, or 5.7 percent, to NT$28.10.

Cathay Financial Holding Corp (國泰金控), the parent group of Taiwan's largest life insurer, fell 2.9 percent to NT$51, while SinoPac Holding Co (建華金控) dropped 2.7 percent to NT$17.9.

In contrast to sharp losses among financial stocks, electronics shares gained 0.5 percent as a whole, partly due to better-than-expected earnings from chip giant Intel Corp reported overnight in the US.

TSMC, the world's biggest maker of made-to-order computer chips, fell NT$0.50, or 0.7 percent, to NT$68. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) rose 1 percent to NT$30.4.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光) rose NT$1.40, or 5.1 percent, to NT$29.10. The nation's biggest chip packager rose after Intel Corp's third-quarter profit beat some analysts' estimates, suggesting industrywide sales are picking up.

Macronix International Co (旺宏), the county's largest maker of memory chips for electronic games, rose NT$0.60, or 6.7 percent, to NT$9.55 after it signed a preliminary agreement with Japan's Renesas Technology Corp to jointly develop new chip technology, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's largest notebook computer maker, rose NT$1, or 1.1 percent, to NT$90 after a local newspaper report that the company said it expects sales to rise 42 percent next year because more PC buyers are choosing laptops instead of desktops.

ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, rose NT$0.40, or 2.9 percent, to NT$14.10.