Taiwan: Stocks almost flat, Mega Financial leads financials down

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks were almost flat on Wednesday morning as losses in financial shares, led by Mega Financial, eroded early gains.

Shares in the Taiwanese financial holding company, the focus of a probe by local prosecutors following a rare fine for anti-money laundering violations in the US, were sliding for the fourth session running.

As of 0252 GMT, the main Taiex index was unchanged at 9,031.24 points, after closing up 0.5 per cent in the previous session.

Tempering the selling was buying in tech heavyweight Hon Hai Precision, whose shares were 1.2 per cent higher, helping push the electronics subindex up 0.2 per cent.

But the financials subindex lost 0.7 per cent, led by Mega Financial's 2 per cent retreat after Taipei prosecutors on Tuesday began an investigation on whether the firm broke local criminal laws after its banking unit was fined by New York regulators last week.

The Taiwan dollar softened NT$0.079 to NT$31.785 per US dollar.

REUTERS