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14:03 15Jun09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks post worst daily drop in 2 months * Market hits weakest close in 1-½ mths * All sub-indexes slide * TSMC, UMC lead technology shares lower (Adds details and quote) TAIPEI, June 15 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks fell 3.45 percent on Monday, their biggest daily drop in two months, as investors sold shares across the board following recent rallies, sending heavyweights such as TSMC <2330.tw> sharply lower. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 222.67 points lower at 6,225.56, its weakest finish since April 30 and the biggest single-day percentage fall since April 17. The day's decline extended a worst weekly drop in seven months hit last week. Turnover was light at T$112.6 billion ($3.4 billion), lower than T$128.8 billion recorded the previous session. Despite the day's decline, the TAIEX has jumped more than 47 percent since touching the year's trough in late January. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) <2330.tw> , the world's top contract chipmaker and the most active share by turnover, slid 4.8 percent, pulling the semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> 4.9 percent lower. "Investors continued to take profit. Foreign investors also took a more negative view on local stocks and sold heavyweights like TSMC and UMC," said Tu Jin-lung, chairman of Grand Cathay Investment Services. Tu expects the TAIEX to continue pulling back and drop as low as 6,000 this week. (For a table of foreign trading in Taiwan stocks, double-click on [ID:nTP170358]) TSMC's smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) <2303.tw> dropped 6.8 percent to its daily limit, with the electronics sub-index <.TELI> ending 3.9 percent lower. However, Wistron Corp <3231.tw>, Taiwan's No.3 contract laptop maker, closed up by 7 percent at its daily limit. Morgan Stanley on Monday said in a research report that Wistron's short-term valuation was compelling and maintained its "overweight" rating on the company. The financial sub-index <.TFNI>, which has gained 60 percent since hitting a low in early March, declined 2.7 percent. Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw> fell 0.5 percent and Fubon Financial <2881.tw> dropped and 1.7 percent, giving up gains early in the session. Chinatrust Financial and Fubon Financial were cited in a local newspaper report as being likely to benefit from China's recently announced rules regulating its investors in Taiwan's financial sector. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -3.45 percent Close on day 6,225.56 2009 intraday high 7,084.83 2009 intraday low 4,164.19 All time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------ (US$1=T$32.9) (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
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