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14:32 04Aug09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks post worst drop in 3 wks, techs drop * Technology shares weigh on profit-taking * Mediatek falls ahead of its second-quarter results * D-link rises after signing agreement with Japanese firms (Updates quotes, hot stocks; Adds details) TAIPEI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks ended down 1.43 percent on Tuesday, posting their worst single-day percentage drop in more than three weeks, as investors locked in profits on Mediatek <2454.tw> and other technology shares. The main Taiwan TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 100.84 points lower at 6,955.87, its worst percentage slide since July 13 and its lowest close since July 22. Turnover was moderate at T$160 ($4.9 billion), more than Monday's T$129 billion. Mediatek, Taiwan's top chip design house, fell 4.63 percent. It had gained 6 percent in the past week. Mediatek posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and gave solid guidance for the third quarter after the market close on Tuesday. [ID:nTPU001556] "These shares have seen a sharp rally since the beginning of this year, and investors are not sure whether the uptrend would remain intact without stronger economic data and earnings," said Bevan Yeh, a senior fund manager at Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust. "The main index will be consolidating till late August, because it had gained more than 50 percent since January," said Wang Kao-hsiung, an analyst at KGI Securities. "But let's not take the consolidation as a sign of a slowdown in economic recovery," Wang said. Analysts said technology shares are likely to take a breather until all companies report their first-half results at the end of August. Shares of UMC dropped 6.8 percent, after they had gained 5 percent in the past four sessions. The company is due to report its monthly earnings on Friday. HTC <2498.tw>, the world's No. 4 smartphone maker, plunged by its daily 7 percent limit for a second day after HTC slashed its revenue forecast for the year. [ID:nTP164858] Bucking the trend were shares of DRAM makers such as Nanya Technology Corp <2408.tw>, which shot up 4.03 percent. The gain comes after the Taiwan government said that Taiwan Memory Co (TMC), a government-funded computer memory chip firm aimed to restructure the ailing DRAM sector, was officially established at end of July. Also in the spotlight was wireless equipment maker D-Link <2332.tw>, which rose 0.34 percent. The company said it had signed an agreement with Sojitz Corp <2768.t> and Nissho Electronics of Japan to distribute its products in China and Southeast Asia. [ID:nTP187989] For a table of foreign trading in Taiwan stocks, double-click on [ID:nTP170358] --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -1.43 pct Close on day 6955.87 2009 intraday high 7,142.63 2009 intraday low 4,164.19 All-time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990 -------------------------------------------------------------- ($1=T$32.7) (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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