The TAIEX dropped after the NASDAQ Composite Index's 2.9 percent drop yesterday prompted some investors to sell computer-related shares to raise cash for the upcoming New Year holiday.
Even as three stocks fell for every one that rose, memory chipmakers such as Mosel Vitelic Inc (
The TAIEX, almost two-thirds of whose market value is made up of electronic stocks, slid 5.60, or 0.1 percent, to 5844.25.
"Small investors don't want to hold stocks over Chinese New Year. They want cash," said Cheng Yi-sheng, who helps manage about NT$1.5 billion (US$43 million) at Taiwan Securities Ltd (台証證券). "We are taking profits but still hold a positive view on Taiwan stocks because we see fundamental improvements month-on-month."
The stock exchange will be closed from Wednesday, Feb. 7 through Friday, Feb. 15 to for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The total value of trade today was NT$82.5 billion ($2.4 billion), down 38 percent from last week's daily average of NT$132.4 billion.
Some computer-parts makers declined after the NASDAQ's drop. Acer Inc (宏電) fell NT$0.40, or 1.8 percent, to NT$21.70. Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), Taiwan's biggest notebook computer maker, fell NT$1.50, or 1.1 percent, to NT$133.50. Via Technologies Inc (威盛電子), the second-biggest chipset seller, fell NT$0.50, or 0.3 percent, to NT$149.50.
Computer-memory-chip makers rose. The price of the 128-megabit DRAM chip yesterday gained 1.4 percent to US$3.53, according to DRAM Exchange.
Mosel Vitelic jumped NT$1.10, or 6.1 percent, to NT$19.20. Nanya Technology Corp (
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