Taiwan shares close down 0.5% (update)

Taipei--Shares in Taiwan closed lower Wednesday as investors took cues from a tumble on Wall Street overnight on the back of uncertainty over the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, but remained above the 9,900-point mark, dealers said.

Wall Street stocks suffered their worst decline of the year Tuesday as doubts increased about Trump's ability to advance his agenda in Washington, dragging down Asian stocks, the dealers said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended down 49.83 points, or 0.50 percent, at 9,922.66, after fluctuating between 9,922.66 and 9,843.07, on turnover of NT$95.56 billion (US$3.13 billion).

Almost all the major share categories lost ground, with stocks in the construction sector outperforming the other segments, ending up 0.93 percent.

Large-cap electronic shares were mostly weak, with contract chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (???), the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, losing 0.77 percent to close at NT$193.50.

Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co. (???), the most expensive stock on Taiwan's market, dropped 1.46 percent to end at NT$4,740.00.

Foreign institutional investors were the main drivers behind the recent gains in local shares, said Shawn Hsueh (???), an analyst with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co., adding that they bought a net NT$16 billion-worth of shares on the stock market a day earlier, sending the weighted index up 0.60 percent at the close Tuesday.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel