Taiwan's key stock index dropped to its lowest close in four months, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
The TWSE Index slid 110.47, or 2.1 percent, to 5,122.17, its lowest close since Jan. 3. Five stocks fell for every one that rose. TSMC accounted for almost a fifth of the index's decline.
Trade slumped to NT$40.4 billion (US$1.2 billion), the lowest level this year.
Gartner Inc, a consultancy, said global semiconductor sales will fall 17 percent this year to US$188 billion from the previous year.
"There is an oversupply and an overhang of inventory" of electronic components including semiconductors, said Keon Han, the regional technology analyst at Bear Stearns Asia Ltd in Hong Kong. "A factor has been the PC price war and the resulting pressure it's putting on component prices."
TSMC fell NT$2.50, or 2.6 percent, to NT$92.50. TSMC said April sales dropped 21 percent to NT$9.2 billion from March. Its US shares fell NT$0.58, or 2.6 percent, to US$22.20 yesterday.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) fell NT$1, or 1.9 percent, to NT$51.50. The world's second-biggest chipmaker on a made-to-order basis said April sales fell 12 percent to NT$5.8 billion. The stock's US shares fell US$0.18, or 1.7 percent, to US$10.32 yesterday.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (
ASE Test Ltd (福雷電子) fell 10 cents, or 1.5 percent, to NT$6.40. The biggest semiconductor testing company in Asia said April revenue fell 26 percent from March to US$23.9 million. Its US shares fell US$0.70, or 4.8 percent, to US$14 yesterday.
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電子) fell NT$3, or 2 percent, to NT$148. Taiwan's largest maker of computer circuit boards said April sales fell 28 percent from March to NT$5.8 billion. Motherboard shipments fell 38 percent to one million units and sales of notebooks grew almost two-thirds to 65,000 units.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (
Far Eastern Textile Ltd (
Microtek International Inc (
Siliconware Precision Industries Co (
Taishin International Bank (
Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大) rose NT$0.10, or 0.3 percent, to NT$37.70. Taiwan's biggest mobile phone company by customers said sales reached NT$4 billion in April, a 9.6 percent increase from last year. Pretax profit rose 14 percent to NT$1.3 billion.
Winbond Electronics Corp (
Yageo Corp (國巨) fell NT$2.80, or 7 percent, to NT$37.30. The largest maker of parts that control the flow of electricity in circuits said it will fire about 10 percent of its 7,220 workforce to slash costs. Yageo will start firing workers at factories in Taiwan, China, and Holland to cut costs by 30 percent by the end of June, said Vincent Weng (翁啟勝), deputy manager of Yageo's business development department.
Memory chipmakers fell after the current industry standard chip, 128-megabit 8x16 PC100 dynamic random access memory, fell to US$3.90, according to ConvergeTrade, which provides a market for buying and selling semiconductors. That is below the cost of production for most chipmakers.
Mosel Vitelic Inc (
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