Taiwan: Stocks slightly down; cautious trading ahead of Fed decision

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks were marginally down on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of Federal Reserve statement due later in the day in which the US central bank is expected to raise interest rates.

Local losses were in line with regional markets which also slipped as investors took profits before the US central bank policy meeting that could signal how much monetary tightening to expect during the rest of the year, with an immediate rate hike fully priced in by markets.

As of 0510 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.12 per cent at 9,729.70, after closing up 0.5 per cent in the previous session.

However, the electronics subindex climbed as much as 0.18 per cent, while the financials subindex gained up to 0.2 per cent. Offsetting the gains were declines in the transport, plastics and construction shares.

International airline EVA Airways Corp slid as much as 2.1 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar firmed NT$0.079 to NT$30.887 per US dollar.

REUTERS