Taiwan: Stocks fall as Trump focuses on tax, immigration reforms

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Wednesday, erasing earlier gains, as US President Donald Trump emphasised his desire to focus on problems at home by boosting the US economy with tax and immigration reforms.

Taiwan is a trade-dependent nation and US policies aimed at bringing manufacturing back to the world's biggest economy could leave the island's economy vulnerable, analysts said.

Growth in Taiwan's February factory activity dipped to a four-month low, according to Taiwan PMI data released on Wednesday.

The main Taiex index fell 0.6 per cent to 9,691.12 points as of 0254 GMT, after closing down 0.2 per cent on Friday.

Taiwan stock and financial markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday for a public holiday.

The electronics subindex was down 0.8 per cent, while the financial subindex fell 0.3 per cent.

Among actively traded shares, Taishin Financial Holding Co was down 0.8 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar softened by NT$0.038 to NT$30.688 to the US dollar, in line with other Asian currencies.

REUTERS