Share prices closed 0.59 percent lower yesterday as investors cashed out following the latest poor showing on Wall Street, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 50.89 points at 8,572.59, off a high of 8,627.53 and a low of 8,499.03, on turnover of NT$139.08 billion (US$4.58 billion).
Decliners led risers 1,429 to 700, with 310 stocks unchanged.
A total of 24 stocks closed limit-down and 23 were limit-up.
The food sector was down 3.29 percent, plastics/petrochemical was down 2.56 percent, financials fell 2.32 percent and textiles slid 1.95 percent.
In contrast, cement was up 2.46 percent, construction up 2.32 percent, steel up 1.85 percent, and electronics up 0.28 percent.
Late bargain-hunting, particularly among technology stocks that had underperformed the broader market recently, brought the market off its lows, dealers said.
"There is no denying investors are getting increasingly impatient with the market's failure to mount a liquidity-driven upswing," said Alex Huang (
Huang said whether the market can sustain itself above 8,500 points in the short term will say much about its direction.
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