TAIEX tumbles to an eight-week low after US stocks drop

The TAIEX fell to its lowest mark in eight weeks yesterday as investors took cues from heavy recent declines on Wall Street, analysts said.

After taking the day off Monday because of a typhoon, the index lost 107.09 points, or 1.9 percent, to 5,667.58. Trading value was NT$53.52 billion (US$1.5 billion).

It was the worst closing level since the index hit 5,660.97 on Aug. 23.

As many as 634 stocks finished the session lower, while only 83 counters ended higher, with 70 unchanged.

"Asian markets generally had a very bad day yesterday, and we're just following their steps," said Bill Huang, a KGI Securities (中信證券) trader.

Electronics titles were down 3.1 percent as a whole yesterday, the worst performing sector after the auto sector's 3.8 percent fall.

Taiwan's largest panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) tumbled by its daily limit of 7 percent to NT$37.30, while its closest rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) was down 6.8 percent to NT$35.70.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電), the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 2.3 percent to NT$42.20.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said the chip sector will have slower growth in the next 10 years.

Memory chip stocks also fared poorly, as investors are concerned demand will stay weak into next year.

The over-the-counter-listed Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) fell 5.2 percent to NT$25.30 as mainboard-traded Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) fell 6.9 percent to NT$24.30.