Taiwan: Stocks down on profit-taking, TSMC eases ahead of Q3 results

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Tuesday on some profit-taking after having hit their highest closing level in more than a year earlier this month.

As of 0401 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.8 per cent at 9,189.86 points, after closing down 0.2 per cent on Friday. Last week, the index had touched its highest close since July 2015.

Taiwan's financial markets were shut on Monday for the National Day holiday.

After the market shut on Friday, the government reported exports in September dropped unexpectedly, even though key tech shipments grew, taming some optimism over the strength of the recovery for the trade-dependent economy.

The electronics subindex shed 0.7 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.5 per cent.

Bellwether chipmaker TSMC erased early gains to trade down 0.5 per cent. The world's largest contract chipmaker is due to issue its third-quarter results on Thursday, and its outlook for global demand on tech products is widely watched by market participants.

The Taiwan dollar softened NT$0.18 to NT$31.660 per US dollar.

REUTERS