twn stock 0427

14:17 27Apr09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks at 2-wk low amid swine flu concerns * Market hits weakest finish in 2 wks, swine flu fears weigh * Financial, tourism shares down despite China deal * TSMC flat ahead of Q1 earnings (Adds details and quotes) TAIPEI, April 27 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks fell 3 percent on Monday to a two-week closing low, as swine flu fears triggered widespread selling and investors sold high-flying financial shares after a landmark financial services deal with China. The main TAIEX <.TWII> share index ended 175.72 points lower at 5,705.05, its weakest close since April 9 and its biggest one-day percentage drop in a week. Turnover was active at T$136.8 billion ($4.1 billion), but lower than Friday's T$144.5 billion before major tech companies report their quarterly earnings later this week. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> led the decline with a 5.28 percent drop, erasing a more than 25 percent rise since the beginning of March. Cathay Financial <2882.tw>, Taiwan's top listed financial holding firm, fell 5.61 percent. The fall came a day after Taiwan and China signed a series of landmark agreements laying the groundwork for a flood of investment in financial services to flow across the Taiwan Strait for the first time in six decades. [ID:nTP347498] "There's heavy profit-taking from a recent rally over the cross-Strait talks," said Eddy Chen, a vice president of National Investment Trust. "The swine flu outbreak and companies' earnings due out this week also caused the market's fall today." The death toll from swine flu in Mexico has risen to 103, with fears of a global pandemic mounting after infections were reported in the United States and Canada on Sunday. [ID:nN26482522] Taiwan's health department has strengthened quarantine inspections for travellers from the United States and Mexico, local media reported on Monday. Other major losers included the tourism sub-index <.THOI> and the transportation sub-index <.TTPI>, which slid 6.18 percent and 5.75 percent, respectively. TSMC <2330.tw> , the world's largest contract chipmaker, ended flat ahead of its first-quarter earnings and guidance on Thursday. The semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> fell 1.76 percent and the electronics sub-index <.TELI> was down 2.59 percent. "Funds have been flowing back to tech shares partly because earnings results of local firms have not disappointed investors so far," said Wang Kao-hsiung, a vice president of KGI Securities. "The broader market will be pressured in the short term before major tech companies announce earnings throughout this week," said Wang, who expected the TAIEX to trade between 5,750-6,050 points this week. ProMOS <5387.two>, Taiwan's third-biggest DRAM chip maker, fell 4 percent, giving up early gains. A source late on Friday said the company would get a T$2.98 billion loan from a banking consortium on Monday. [ID:nTP325315] AU Optronics <2409.tw>, the world's third-biggest LCD maker, declined 5.43 percent after late on Friday saying its board was planning a T$0.30-per-share cash dividend and a 0.3 percent stock dividend on its 2008 earnings. [ID:nTP325831] HOT STOCKS -- Chunghwa Telecom <2412.tw> was down 1.68 percent after a newspaper said the company would cut its capital by 10-15 percent, or about T$1 per share, lower than market expectations. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -2.99 percent Close on day 5,705.05 2009 intraday high 6,071.06 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$33.7) (Reporting by Gina Chang; Editing by Chris Lewis) ((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.com)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.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 TAIEX <.TWII><.TV.TW> Other indices <0#.inx.tw> TAISDAQ <.TWOII><.TV.TWO> TAIMEX Taiwan index futures <0#tx:> MSCI Taiwan index <.MSTW> SIMEX Taiwan index futures <0#stw:> FTSE TW50 index <.FTSETW50> Keywords: MARKETS TAIWAN STOCKS
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