Taiwan: Stocks down on profit-taking, tracking overseas caution

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Friday on profit-taking after a nine-session winning streak and as overseas markets turned cautious.

The main Taiex index fell 0.4 per cent to 9,928.61 as of 0250 GMT, after closing up 0.1 per cent in the previous session.

The electronics subindex sank 0.3 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.4 per cent.

Losses were broad-based. Chemical products producer China Petrochemical Development Corp was off nearly 3 per cent, Sinopac Financial Holdings was down 0.2 per cent while display maker AU Optronics was down 0.8 per cent.

The index gained 3.5 per cent in the last nine sessions.

On Monday, Taiwan is due to issue its exports data for April, which are likely to show a seventh month of growth and, while the momentum may slow, it should signal that economic recovery remains on track.

The Taiwan dollar softened NT$0.008 to NT$30.148 per US dollar.

REUTERS