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TAIEX edges down on profit-taking, lackluster trading

Shares closed 0.8 percent lower yesterday as technical resistance led the market to consolidate in the absence of strong positive leads, dealers said.

Investors pulled back from driving the market closer to its year-to-date high of 9,807 points, recorded on July 26, while recent front-runners, led by liquid-crystal display makers, succumbed to profit-taking pressure, they said.

The benchmark index closed down 77.34 points at 9,639.83, on turnover of NT$164.44 billion (US$5.04 billion).

Both local and foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$287 million in stocks yesterday, after buying a net NT$11.4 billion on Monday, the stock exchange's tallies showed.

Decliners outnumbered advancers 1,372 to 516, with 238 stocks unchanged.

On the foreign exchange market, the NT dollar closed the day's trading at NT$32.591, down NT$0.003 from the previous close of NT$32.588. Turnover was US$977 million on the Taipei Forex Inc.

"Investors opted to take a breather, now that the market is near a psychologically and technically significant threshold," said Oliver Fang, an assistant vice president at Yuanta Core Pacific Securities (元大京華證券).

He said investors were particularly cautious because the market would be closed today for the National Day holiday.

He added that despite the current technical weakness, the market appeared to have underlying fundamental support, largely coming from the NT dollar's strength, which could propel shares to new record levels when the consolidation period is over.

"The party is not over yet," he said.
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