TAIPEI: Shares in Taiwan moved lower to close below the 8,400 point mark Friday as investors cut their holdings due to heavy losses on Wall Street and several major European markets overnight resulting from the disappointing decision made by the European Central Bank (ECB), dealers said.
Selling focused on large-cap stocks in electronics and non-high tech sectors, including financials, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock in the market, they said.
Bucking the downturn on the broader market, smartphone vendor HTC Corp. (宏達電) got a boost from market speculation that the company will unveil a smart watch next year, a move which will diversify its product portfolio, they said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 57.46 points, or 0.68 percent, at 8,398.60, after moving between 8,355.75 and 8,423.70, on turnover of NT$80.56 billion (US$2.46 billion).
The market opened down 0.38 percent in a knee-jerk reaction to a 1.42 percent fall on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 1.67 percent drop on the tech-heavy NASDAQ index overnight after the ECB decision, dealers said.
