Taiwan: Stocks down, flat panels drag

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Wednesday, pulled lower by flat panels after one of the major television and gadget screen makers issued a downbeat outlook.

The main TAIEX index was down 0.6 per cent at 8,531.84 as of 1:51 GMT, trailing regional bourses as well as Wall Street after closing up 0.3 per cent in the previous session.

The electronics subindex sank 0.7 per cent, pulled lower by optoelectronics in particular, which fell 2.55 per cent.

The world's No.3 and 4 flat panel makers, Innolux Corp and AU Optronics Corp, suffered declines of 5.76 per cent and 5.68 per cent respectively, after the latter expressed caution about business in the second half of the year, traditionally the peak season.

The financials subindex lost 0.3 per cent, while plastics dropped 1.06 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.128 to T$31.447 per US dollar.

REUTERS