Taiwan shares ended down yesterday after US technology industry bellwether Intel reported rising inventories, a development that could lead to price cuts, analysts said.
The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange finished 61.92 points, or 1.1 percent, lower at 5,623.65 in dealings valued at NT$51.34 billion (US$1.52 billion).
Decliners well outnumbered advancers 628 to 111, while 184 issues ended the day unchanged.
Intel, considered a tech industry bellwether due to the number of computers that run on its microprocessors, said its inventory levels have risen, but said it expects to lower inventories later in the year. Chipset maker VIA Technologies (
Asustek Computer Co (華碩), the world's largest motherboard maker, dropped 4 percent to NT$73 on the similar fear that Intel will cut motherboard prices to clear out inventory.
Andrew Teng, deputy sales manager at Taiwan International Securities (金鼎證券), said he expects the local market to remain volatile the rest of the week, and pegged a range of 5,600 to 5,700 for the main index. Nearly all major subindexes ended down on the day, led by transport, which shed 2.6 percent after strong gains over the previous two days.
Shares in AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest maker of liquid crystal display panels, shed 1.7 percent to end at NT$46.2, while rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) declined 2 percent to NT$50.