tw stock 0220

14:09 20Feb09 RTRS-Tech shares drag Taiwan stocks to 2-wk closing low
* Market ends two-day gains on tech losses
* TSMC trades lower despite upbeat outlook
* DRAM shares mixed after government official comment

(Adds details and quote)
TAIPEI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks ended down 2.03
percent on Friday to a two-week closing low, as investors sold
shares after a Wall Street sell-off and ignored a report citing
upbeat comments by top contract chipmaker TSMC <2330.TW>.
The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 91.93 points lower
at 4,436.94, its weakest finish since Feb. 5. The market had
climbed 0.8 percent in the previous two sessions.
Turnover was light at T$59.9 billion ($1.7 billion), lower
than T$70.5 billion a day earlier.
TSMC , the world's top contract chip maker, lost 3.3
percent even after a newspaper said on Friday the firm believed
its operations had reached a low point and could rebound soon as
it had already secured a number of orders in the current quarter.
A top Taiwan fund manager also said on Thursday that
electronic component makers and designers are poised to benefit
this year from an early turnaround in demand for technology
products. [ID:nTP331726]
"Despite the positive comments, the market was still
pressured by losses on Wall Street," said Tu Jin-lung, chairman
of Grand Cathay Investment Services.
"We need to wait until TSMC posts February sales to see if
recent rush orders and the weaker Taiwan dollar actually helped
it and might boost it in the longer term," said Tu, who expected
the market to trade between 4,450-4,607 points next week.
The semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> fell 2.51 percent. UMC
<2303.TW> , smaller crosstown rival of TSMC, shed 4.87
percent.
But DRAM shares were mixed following comments from a
government official. Taiwan's top DRAM maker Powerchip <5346.TWO>
fell 2.76 percent while ProMOS <5387.TWO> dropped by its 7
percent daily limit. Nanya Tech <2408.TW> jumped 2.68 percent.
Economics minister Yiin Chii-ming said the government
wants to consolidate the struggling DRAM sector under either
Japan's Elpida <6665.T> or Micron Technology , and will
announce plans by next week, a local newspaper reported.

HOT STOCKS
-- Electronics distributor Synnex Technology <2347.TW> fell
2.77 percent even after a newspaper cited a top company executive
as saying inventories at tech companies are falling back to
normal levels and the entire sector should pick up by March.

-- LCD TV maker Vizio Inc, which sells TVs made by Amtran
<2489.TW>, overtook Sony <6758.T> in the fourth quarter of last
year to become the United States' second most popular flat panel
TV brand after stepping up on its marketing efforts, research
firm iSuppli said. [ID:nTP101640]
Shares of Amtran climbed 0.93 percent.
--------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE--------------------
Move on day -2.03 percent
Close on day 4,436.94
2009 intraday high 4,817.44
2009 intraday low 4,164.19
All time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990
------------------------------------------------------------
For a table of foreign trading in Taiwan stocks, double-click
on [ID:nTP170358]
(US$1=T$34.8)
(Reporting by Gina Chang, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters
Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.come@reuters.com))
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Friday, 20 February 2009 14:09:15RTRS [nTP195098] {EN}ENDS