Typhoon leads to lowest TAIEX turnover in a year

Shares ended flat yesterday as Typhoon Rananim lashed the nation, keeping many traders at home and causing the lowest turnover in more than a year.

The TAIEX finished up 0.68 point, or 0.01 percent, at 5,368.02 in dealings valued at NT$34.80 billion (US$1.05 billion).

The last time turnover was lower was May 21 last year, when fear of SARS pushed the value of trading down to NT$28.50 billion (US$838 million).

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 323 to 299, while 282 ended the day unchanged.

The market was down most of the day, mainly due to declines in US shares overnight. A last-minute surge -- which some dealers attributed to government funds entering the market -- helped stocks close slightly higher.

The electronics subindex fell 0.4 percent, autos dropped 2.1 percent, steel edged down 0.1 percent and construction declined 0.9 percent.

Semiconductor issues were among the hardest hit yesterday.

United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), the world's second-largest contract chipmaker, fell 0.9 percent to NT$21.8.

Computer memory chipmakers also dropped. Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) lost 3.3 percent to NT$20.6 after the a Chinese-language newspaper reported the price of the most widely used DRAM chips that have yet to be tested for defects plunged below US$4 each to end at US$3.85 on Wednesday.

The world's largest contract notebook maker also fell sharply. Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) dropped 5 percent to NT$57.5 because of the US decline and indications that the second half of the year won't be as strong as expected.