Taiwan Shares Close Down 0.69 Percent

Taiwan shares close down 0.69 percent

HONG KONG, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) — Taiwan shares closed down 0.69 percent with a thinner traded volume on Thursday, according to reports reaching here from Taipei.

The weighted index, key barometer of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, declined 39.54 points to close at 5,661.18.

The bourse opened at 5,663.24 and fluctuated between 5,717.05 and 5,632.23 during trading. A total of 2.89 billion shares changed hands on a market turnover of 65.66 billion new Taiwan dollars (1.95 billion US dollars), down from Wednesday’s turnover of 73.04 billion new Taiwan dollars (2.16 billion US dollars).

Only two of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with textile stocks moving up 2.7 percent and plastics and chemicals shares rising 0.4 percent.

The other six major stock categories lost ground, with banking and financial shares moving down the most at 1.1 percent, followed by machinery and electronics shares at 1 percent, paper and pulp issues at 0.6 percent, foodstuff issues at 0.2 percent, and cement stocks and construction issues both at 0.1 percent.

Losers outnumbered gainers 631 to 327, with 193 stocks remaining unchanged.