Taiwan: Stocks fall; insurers down after water park fire

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell 1.6 per cent on Monday along with global markets on fears of a Greece default, and as investors dumped insurance stocks after nearly 500 people were injured in a fire at a Taiwan water park.

Minutes into trading, the main TAIEX index had dropped to 9,308.30 points, extending its 0.2 per cent dip in the prior session.

The financial sub-index shed 2 per cent. Taiwan authorities had began investigating the cause of the water park fire that occurred over the weekend.

Electronics shares were off 2 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar was down 0.379 per cent to stand at T$31.250 to the US dollar.

REUTERS