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14:36 11Sep09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks inch up to 14-mth closing high on banks * TSMC, Hon Hai fall after worse-than-expected August sales * LCDs fall on news Korean peers could cut panel prices * Main index due for correction next week, analysts say (Updates indexes, quotes) By Joan Hsu TAIPEI, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks inched up 0.07 percent to a fresh 14-month closing high on Friday, with TSMC <2330.tw> dragging tech shares lower after its weak August sales, but financials kept losses in check. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> finished 5.06 points higher at 7.337.14, chalking up a fresh 14-month closing high and recording a 2.56 percent weekly gain. The technology sector <.TELI> was the session's top loser, falling 0.43 percent, with tech heavyweights TSMC <2330.tw> and Hon Hai <2317.tw> slipping 1.73 percent and 1.59 percent, respectively. "Technology shares have been major contributers to the main index's gains over the past two weeks, but investors are beginning to worry that perhaps they have become overvalued," said Alex Huang, a research director at Mega International Securities Co. The technology sector has gained more than 8 percent over the past two weeks. TSMC , the world's top contract chip maker, reported a 7 percent fall in August sales on Thursday, hitting the firm's shares on Friday. [ID:nTP182106] Turnover was light at T$97 billion ($3 billion), compared with Thursday's T$162 billion. The optoelectronics sub-index <.TOPI> also pressured the market, with LCD makers AU Optronics <2409.tw> and Chi Mei Optoelectronics <3009.tw> falling 1.94 percent and 1.81 percent, respectively. The falls came after a local newspaper reported that Taiwan flat panel makers could expect a slip in sales as their bigger South Korean peers cut panel prices. Helping balance losses in the tech sector were financial shares <.TFNI>, which gained 0.77 percent, with Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw> up 2.5 percent. "Foreign investors rushed in to buy financial shares on hopes of warmer ties with China," Huang said, referring to the $887 million net purchase by foreign institutions on Thursday, the sixth highest on record. [ID:nTP122059] Mega Financial <2886.tw> climbed 3.45 percent to its best finish in over a year on news that it was the first among Taiwan banks to obtain approval from the Chinese government to set up a representative office in China in six years. Analysts said Taiwan stocks could be due for a correction next week after recording gains of about 7 percent in the past two weeks. "Taiwan stocks have seen considerable gains in the past two weeks, and we could see some correction or profit taking in the early part of next week," said Mega's Huang, who expects the index to find support at about 7,200. ---------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 0.07 pct Close on day 7,337.14 2009 intraday high 7,507.49 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 Jonathan Hopfner)) ((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
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