Taiwan: Stocks slump on poor export orders data; techs down

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell 1.4 per cent on Thursday as worse-than-expected export orders data weighed on investor sentiment, paced by slides in tech exporters such as TSMC.

About 10 minutes into trade, the main TAIEX index had fallen to 9,550.80, trailing other regional bourses. The main index ended down 0.3 per cent in the prior session.

Electronics shares were 1 per cent lower, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, off 1 per cent.

Hon Hai Precision, the world's biggest electronics components maker and a major Apple iPhone maker, was off 0.5 per cent.

Taiwan's export orders in April posted their worst showing in more than two years on Wednesday, with big falls from Japan and China flagging softening demand for the island's electronic gadgets.

The Taiwan dollar was up by T$0.183 to stand at T$30.499 against the US dollar.

REUTERS