Profit-taking sends shares lower, led by financial stocks

Shares closed slightly down yesterday on profit-taking in the financial sector.

The TAIEX finished 10.47 points lower, or 0.2 percent, at 5,906.69 in dealings valued at NT$60 billion (US$1.84 billion).

Decliners well outnumbered advancers 450 to 166, while 161 issues ended the day unchanged.

Stocks were strong in the morning session but posted losses after profit-taking, said Alex Kao, a vice-president at Masterlink Securities Corp (元富證券).

Mega Financial Holding (兆豐金控) dropped 1.8 percent to NT$22.40 after the government filed Friday to sell 41.75 million shares of its stake in the firm.

Steel and older industry shares also fell, led by Chung Hung Steel Corp (中鴻鋼鐵), which slipped 3.6 percent to NT$18.60.

A number of smaller technology stocks fell as short-term investors took profits, dealers said.

Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽), a computer memory chipmaker, finished 2.2 percent lower at NT$2.73, and Macronix International Co (旺宏) declined 1.4 percent to NT$7.10.

Makers of thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display screens also closed lower.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) dropped 2.1 percent to NT$36.5 and Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子) shed 1.2 percent to NT$16.40.

A Deutsche Bank analyst said in a report to clients yesterday that the investment firm maintains "our cautious outlook on TFT-LCD sector" since "industry fundamentals have not bottomed out."

He said he expects further downside for Chi Mei and Taiwan's largest TFT-LCD maker, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), which finished flat at NT$38.80.