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Intel helps drag down local stocks after profit report

Shares closed 0.26 percent lower yesterday with falls in technology partly offset by support for old-economy and financial stocks on hopes of an upswing, dealers said.

Technology majors were dragged down with a more than 4.0 percent fall in Intel Corp in after-hours trade overnight after the US chipmaker's second-quarter results revealed weak profit margins, they said.

The TAIEX closed down 24.38 points at 9,485.35, on turnover of NT$247.21 billion (US$7.54 billion).

Foreign institutional investors yesterday sold a net NT$3.32 billion in local stocks. Overseas investors purchased NT$76.84 billion net since the beginning of this month, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.

"The broader index ended slightly lower today as the extended gains among non-techs and financials barely sufficed to offset the losses of technology bellwethers," SinoPac Securities (永豐金證券) assistant vice president Alvin Teng (鄧可欣) said.

Despite the growing sense of caution after recent solid gains, the rotational shift of buying reflects the fact that expectations of a run-up toward the 10,000 points level on the index are still intact, he said.

On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar was little changed, closing at NT$32.821 from NT$32.825 yesterday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$796 million, up from US$776 million the previous day.

"The downside for the Taiwanese currency is very much limited" because the central bank will buy it if necessary, said Leslie Khoo, regional economist at Forecast Singapore Ltd.

Additional reporting by staff writer
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