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Shares drop 2% as financial, high-tech investors cash out

Share prices slumped 2.07 percent yesterday as Wall Street's overnight fall set the tone for trade from the opening bell and continued to influence sentiment throughout the day, dealers said.

They said financial and technology heavyweights led the downturn, with investors opting to cash out after the market had repeatedly tried and failed to breach the year's high of 9,807 points hit on July 26.

The TAIEX fell 201.20 points to 9,496.47 on turnover of NT$153.32 billion (US$4.70 billion). Decliners led risers 1,594 to 386, with 203 stocks unchanged.

On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar closed the day's trading at NT$32.581 against the US dollar, up NT$0.001 from the previous close of NT$32.582.

"Strictly speaking, our downturn today [yesterday] was mostly part of a regional slide in the wake of what happened on Wall Street overnight," Jih Sun Securities Investment Co (日盛投信) deputy manager Wilson Lien (連偉勝) said.

New York stocks pulled back from their highs overnight. The Dow fell 63.57 points or 0.45 percent to 14,015.12.

Lien said that the Taipei index may trade nearer its next support level at around 9,450 points in the near term.

The trend on Wall Street next week as companies release their latest earnings results will also influence Taipei shares and other neighboring markets, Lien added.

For the week to Friday, the weighted index closed down 120.79 points, or 1.26 percent, after a 1.49 percent increase a week earlier.

Average daily turnover stood at NT$156.75 billion, compared with NT$181.54 billion last week.
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