Stock market gets a chill after report of alleged SARS case

Shares lower yesterday on concerns over a news report that a man who recently returned from China had died of SARS, despite the government saying the man probably succumbed to a different respiratory ailment, traders said.

The TAIEX closed down 20.57 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,888.53. Turnover rose to NT$63.79 billion (US$2.03 billion) from NT$48.93 billion on Tuesday.

"The report did hurt market sentiment and more than offset gains made in the earlier session," said Stanley Chou, an analyst at Barits International Investment Service (倍利投顧).

The main board made early gains as foreign investors bought large-capitalization technology stocks on hopes of their improved third-quarter performance, and ahead of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc's raising of the nation's weighting in its indexes on May 31.

The technology subindex ended down 0.3 percent overall.

Global No.1 contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) fell 1.1 percent to NT$55.80. However, shares in its smaller competitor United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) were 0.7 percent higher at NT$21.05.

Liquid-crystal-display makers closed mixed as the SARS report offset optimism over the flat-panel industry's second-half outlook.

The world's third-largest LCD panel maker by revenue, AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), rose 1.0 percent to NT$51.20. Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) shed 0.6 percent to NT$48.70.

Silitech Technology Corp (閎暉), the world's fourth-largest maker of mobile-phone keypads, rose 1.7 percent to NT$117.50.