Taiwan: Stocks fall as TSMC earnings below forecast; Apple supplier Largan soars

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Friday, weighed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) after it reported less-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.

As of 0211 GMT, the main TAIEX index fell 0.65 per cent to 9,771.26 points, after closing at 9,836.68 points in the previous session.

TSMC, the world's top contract chip maker and a major supplier of Apple Inc, was off 1.6 per cent.

The electronics subindex sank 0.5 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.6 per cent.

A bright spot, however, was Largan Precision, maker of camera phone lenses for Apple and other clients, with shares surging nearly 9 per cent.

Largan's first-quarter gross margin beat market expectations and the company gave a bullish outlook for April and May, local media reported on Friday.

The Taiwan dollar softened NT$0.105 to NT$30.430 per US dollar.

REUTERS