The four government funds continued to buy shares yesterday to support the weak stock markets, while the National Stabilization Fund was closely watching market developments, government officials said yesterday.
The four funds -- the Labor Insurance Fund, the Labor Pension Fund, the Postal Savings Fund and the Civil Servant Pension Fund -- bought stocks when prices fell in the wake of weak investor confidence, the unnamed officials told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday.
The National Stabilization Fund, which has not entered the market to support the plunging stocks because of its stricter requirements, is ready to buy shares if prices drop irrationally, the officials added.
Taiwanese shares closed 0.30 percent lower yesterday in volatile trade as lingering worries over global economic prospects and domestic political uncertainties weighed on the market, dealers said.
Other Asian stocks were mixed. Japanese shares dropped 0.27 percent and Shanghai was 0.83 percent lower, while South Korean shares rose 1.16 percent and Hong Kong stocks edged up 0.17 percent.
The TAIEX closed down 23.46 points at 7,807.39 on turnover of NT$143.35 billion (US$4.4 billion).
Decliners outnumbered advancers 1,383 to 594, with 447 stocks unchanged.
Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$5.49 billion in Taiwanese stocks yesterday, compared with net purchases of NT$1.7 billion in shares by domestic investment trusts and NT$1.31 billion by domestic proprietary traders, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's tallies showed.
The market is speculating that the Cabinet may consider measures to boost the market should investor confidence collapse.
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