Share prices slip lower on profit-taking

Share prices closed 0.79 percent lower yesterday as profit-takers moved in after a major rally sparked by the results of the presidential election, dealers said.

Investors shrugged off Wall Street's stronger close overnight and cashed in profits on shares accumulated before and after the weekend vote, particularly in tourism, transport and property, they said.

The weighted index closed down 70.26 points at 8,795.09, off a high of 8,899.26 and a low of 8,761.01, on turnover of NT$201.99 billion (US$6.71 billion).

The tourism sector was down 4.20 percent, cement fell 3.64 percent, transport lost 3.29 percent, financials slid 2.71 percent, food retreated 1.99 percent, textiles tumbled 1.73 percent and plastics/petrochemicals shed 1.52 percent.

Electronics outperformed with a gain of 0.54 percent.

Alex Huang (黃國偉), assistant vice president at Mega International Investment Services (兆豐證券), said profit-taking was not surprising given Monday's sharp gains.

"There was a sense of cooling down after a very dramatic bull run," he said.

Although there are hopes that Taiwan will move towards direct transport links with China and more tourists, many investors are waiting for real signs of policy breakthroughs, Huang said.

While cashing out of financials and other property-backed shares, investors went bargain hunting for technology bellwethers, he said.