tw stock 0319

14:20 19Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks slide, techs fall on stronger currency * Stocks off 5-month high as firmer T$ weighs on exporters * Financial stocks track U.S. banking share gains * Construction issues jump on stronger Taiwan dollar * ProMOS up on company's bond redemption efforts (Adds details and quotes) By Gina Chang TAIPEI, March 19 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks fell 0.23 percent on Thursday, ending a four-session winning streak, as a sharp rise in the Taiwan dollar pressured technology exporters such as contract chip maker TSMC <2330.tw>. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended 11.61 points lower at 5,035.93, retreating from a five-month intraday high during the session as investors locked in profits from recent advances on the market. Turnover was at T$116.8 billion ($3.5 billion), slightly lower than T$119.4 billion in the previous session. The electronics sub-index <.TELI> fell 0.77 percent, while TSMC , the world's top contract chip maker, lost 2.38 percent. "The Taiwan dollar has risen a lot recently, and that pressured tech shares," said Tu Jin-lung, chairman of Grand Cathay Investment Services. "There is also short-term profit-taking from the market's recent strong performance." The Taiwan dollar strengthened past the key psychological barrier of T$34 shortly after the market opened on Thursday, hitting a more than one-month high. [nTP367480] However, analysts said the currency would have little chance to rise sharply again in the near term as the central bank preferred it to remain weak to support exporters." DRAM shares fell after President Ma Ying-jeou said Taiwan will not rescue any troubled companies with cash injections. The comment echoed similar comments by other officials on plans to restructure the island's ailing memory chip sector. [ID:nTP372070] Shares of Powerchip <5346.two> and Nanya Tech <2408.tw>, Taiwan's top DRAM makers, fell 5.31 percent and 2.33 percent. But ProMOS <5387.two>, Taiwan's No. 3 DRAM maker, jumped by their daily limit after the firm moved to attract more of its bondholders to redeem their debt at a heavy discount, aiming to meet a condition set by a lending group helping it to pay off the obligation. [ID:nTP123277] While a steep rise in the Taiwan dollar weighed on tech shares, financial and construction company stocks benefitted from the appreciation of the currency. "The rise in the Taiwan dollar has sped up foreign fund inflows, boosting financial and construction stocks," said Alex Huang, a vice president of Mega International Securities. Foreign institutions have bought about T$27.5 billion worth of local stocks over the past six sessions. The construction sub-index <.TCOI>, the top winner of sub-indexes, surged 5.97 percent. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> rose 1.89 percent, with Cathay Financial <2882.tw>, the island's top financial holding firm and the most active share by turnover, up 5.46 percent. Financial shares were also lifted by a 10 percent jump in their U.S. counterparts after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would buy up t o$300 billion in long-term treasury bonds, the first such large-scale purchase in four decades to help resuscitate lending. HOT STOCKS -- Food and beverage conglomerate Uni-President <1216.tw> was up 3.93 percent after a local newspaper report said China's rejection of Coca-Cola's acquisition of Huiyuan Juice <1886.hk> could provide an opportunity for Uni-President to step in. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -0.23 percent Close on day 5,035.93 2009 intraday high 5,125.40 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$33.8) ((Editing by Ken Wills; gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.come@reuters.com)) ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS: Pan-Asia......[STXNEWS/AS] Japan........[.T] S.Korea....[.KS] S.E. Asia............[.SO] Hong Kong...[.HK] Taiwan.....[.TW] Australia/NZ.........[.AX] India.......[.BO] China......[.SS] OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street...........[.N] Gold.........[GOL/] Currency..[FRX/] Eurostocks...........[.EU] Oil...........[O/R] JP bonds...[JP/] ADR Report..........[ADR/] LME metals..[MET/L] US bonds...[US/] Stocks News US...[STXNEWS/US] Stocks News Europe...[STXNEWS/EU] DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY] U.S. earnings diary [RESF/US] European diary [WEU/EQTY] Taiwan diary [TW/DIARY] Wall Street Week Ahead [.N/O] Eurostocks Week Ahead [.EU/O] World forecasts TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news, double click on: [nTOPEQA] U.S. company news [TOP/EQU] European company news [TOP/EQE] Forex news [TOP/FRX] Global Economy news [TOP/MACRO] Technology news [TOP/TECH] Telecoms news [TOP/TELCO] Media news [TOP/MEDIA] Banking news [TOP/FIN] Politics/General news [TOP/G] Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks <0#.index> Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ <.DJI> <.IXIC> Nikkei <.N225> FTSE 100 <.FTSE> Debt <0#usbmk=> Taiwan dollar LME price overview TAIWAN MARKET: Taiwan equity mkt
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