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14:29 29Jul09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks post worst drop in 2 wks, UMC falls * UMC leads tech lower as investors take profits * China Steel up 3.6 pct on plan to raise product prices * LCD shares rise on report of possible investment in China * Main index seen trading at 7,000-7,250 pts this wk (Adds quotes, details; Updates hot stocks) By Joan Hsu TAIPEI, July 29 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks ended 0.83 percent lower on Wednesday, their biggest daily slide since July 13, with investors locking in profits in UMC <2303.tw> and other major technology shares. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> was down 59 points at 7,083.63, retreating from an 11-month closing high on Tuesday. Turnover was slightly more active at T$162 billion ($4.9 billion), compared with T$154 billion in the previous session. United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) , the world's No.2 contract chip maker, lost 1.07 percent, pushing the semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> 0.98 percent lower. After the market closed, UMC posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit of T$1.547 billion. [ID:nTPU001538] Shares of UMC had staged a near 11 percent rally in the prior five sessions on optimism it could have returned to the black in the second quarter, beating the broader market's 3 percent rise over the period. "There was a broad selloff in heavyweights such as UMC and HTC <2498.tw>, as investors anticipated a pullback following their recent gains," said Katty Wang, a fund manager at Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust. "But I don't think the main index will pull back that much because corporate fundamentals are quite positive, which have been reflected in the results disclosed by some U.S. companies," Wang said. The main index is expected to trade between 7,000-7,250 points for the rest of this week on thin turnover, some analysts said. UMC's larger rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd <2330.tw> , fell 2.42 percent, one day before it releases second-quarter results. Smartphone maker HTC Corp <2498.tw> plunged 6.31 percent after some analysts downgraded its stock on concern over the poor outlook for the second half of the year. But one bright spot was China Steel <2002.tw>, the island's top steel maker, which jumped 3.58 percent. The company said it plans to raise its domestic product prices by 9.4 percent in September, the biggest increase in a year, as demand picks up on signs of a recovery in the global economy. [ID:nTP193607] LCD shares were mixed, with AU Optronics <2409.tw> , the world's No. 3 flat-panel maker, rising 0.54 percent. But its smaller cross-town rival, Chi Mei Optronics <3009.tw>, slipped 0.8 percent. The shares moved after a newspaper reported on Wednesday that Taiwan will allow local flat panel and seminconductor makers to make investments in China using their advanced process technologies. [ID:nTP255892] --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -0.83 percent Close on day 7,083.63 2009 intraday high 7,142.63 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] ((Reporting by Joan Hsu; Editing by Ken Wills)) ((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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