High-priced stocks, oil concerns weigh down TAIEX a bit

Shares ended slightly lower yesterday, as rising oil prices and a drop in high-priced stocks weighed on the market.The TAIEX fell 3.13 points, or 0.04 percent, to 6,353.71, on turnover of NT$93.38 billion (US$2.93 billion).

"High oil is the only near-term negative for the market," said Masterlink Securities Corp (元富證券) Vice President Alex Kao.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), rose 1.5 percent to NT$53.60. Its smaller rival, United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), gained 1.8 percent to NT$22.80.

Apart from rising oil prices, a drop in overpriced stocks also weighed on the main share index, said Ta Ching Securities (大慶證券) manager Daniel Liu.

Catcher Technology Co (可成), a magnesium casing supplier for the iPod mini and a manufacturer of metal cases for computers, fell 6.3 percent to close at NT$208. The company's stock has gained 18.5 percent since Aug. 1.

Dynamic-random-access-memory chip maker Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), which trades over the counter, rose 2.6 percent to NT$24.05. Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) jumped 2.7 percent to NT$24.40.

Thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display makers ended mostly up, on expectations the excess supply of LCD TVs will fall and demand will pick up in the fourth quarter, Masterlink's Kao said.

AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) added 0.4 percent to NT$52.50, and Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子) rose 1.3 percent to NT$15.10.

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) closed at NT$59, up 2.1 percent. The government completed the company's privatization Wednesday, selling a 14 percent stake to foreign investors.