stock / 32.920 /515 / -0.68

14:09 25Aug09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks close down as financials drop * Financial shares fall amid valuation worries * PC shares gain on upbeat sector outlook and Nokia entry * Medical plays climb after more H1N1 deaths * Trade thin amid market volatility and political fears (Adds details and comments) TAIPEI, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks closed 0.42 percent lower on Tuesday, pulled down by financial stocks such as Taishin Financial <2887.tw> on concerns that banking shares had become overvalued. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 28.84 points lower at 6,809.41, a day after it logged its biggest percentage rise in about two months. Turnover was thin at T$84.64 billion ($2.57 billion), lower than the average of most trading days, as many investors were put off by recent market volatility and by concerns of further swings from a possible political reshuffle in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. Financial shares <.TFNI> were the session's top losers, falling 1.9 percent. Taishin Financial dropped 4.4 percent. "Financial shares have climbed a fair bit recently, and this seems like a fairly reasonable correction to me," said John Chiu, vice-president at Fuh Hwa securities. "Investors are looking for other places to park their money now." The session's top gainers included top contract laptop PC maker Quanta <2382.tw> and its smaller rivals Compal <2324.tw> and Wistron <3231.tw>, all of which climbed to lead the broader computer and peripherals sub-index <.TCPI> 2.2 percent higher. Quanta had given a better-than-expected outlook for the rest of the year on Monday, boosting investor confidence that global tech demand was returning and helping boost the company's stock 6.9 percent. [ID:nTP348546] Compal and Wistron rose 3.2 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, amid news that cellphone giant Nokia would be entering the PC sector by launching a line of low-cost netbook PCs. [ID:nL0545102] "I don't expect the market to fluctuate too wildly now," said Kevin Huang, a fund manager at King's Town bank. "There's a general sense that the market has gotten too far ahead of itself, and it's unlikely we'll deviate much from around 6,500." HOT STOCKS -- Acer <2353.tw> also rode the upbeat momentum to close 1.4 percent higher after BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to a "buy" from a "hold", saying it expects the firm to gain market share. [ID:nTP46147] Smaller rival Asustek <2357.tw> climbed, rising 0.96 percent. Asustek posted a second-quarter net loss as the market closed. [ID:nTPU001615] -- Medical-related plays such as China Chemical and Pharmaceutical <1701.tw> rose 5.6 percent after Taiwan's Centre for Disease Control confirmed more deaths from the H1N1 influenza. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day -0.42 percent Close on day 6,809.41 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 Kelvin Soh; Editing by Ken Wills) ((kelvin.soh@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508 0815; Reuters Messaging: kelvin.soh.reuters.com@reuters.net) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)) ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:
[Story not fully loaded, incomplete text]