Shares closed down 0.26 percent yesterday as concerns over oil prices, which are hovering at record highs, outweighed gains in select technology stocks, dealers said.
They said strong earnings reports from global majors such as Nokia and Google had failed to lift the broader market, but AU Optronics (
The TAIEX closed down 25.35 points at 9,611.72 on turnover of NT$139.00 billion (US$4.28 billion).
Decliners led risers 1,263 to 680, with 270 stocks unchanged.
On the foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar closed the day's trading at NT$32.572 to the US dollar, up NT$0.023 from the previous close of NT$32.595. Turnover was US$1.113 billion on the Taipei Forex Inc.
"Many [investors] would rather stay put for now although the local market has been more resilient than regional counterparts and Wall Street lately," said Wilson Lien (連偉勝), deputy manager at Jih Sun Services Investment (日盛投顧).
He noted that the index was confined to a range of less than 70 points yesterday, with turnover also contracting sharply from the previous session.
Lien said it was not surprising to see the market take a breather ahead of more earnings releases in Taiwan and the US next week.
For the week to Oct. 19, the weighted index closed up 115.25 points, or 1.21 percent, after a 1.26 percent fall a week earlier.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$146.24 billion, compared with NT$156.75 billion a week ago.
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