Taiwan Shares Close 0.15 Percent Lower — Feb. 17

Taiwan shares close 0.15 percent lower — Feb. 17

HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) — Taiwan share prices closed 0.15 percent lower with a thinner traded volume on Friday, according to reports reaching here from Taipei.

The weighted index, key barometer of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, went down 10.18 points to close at 6,673.75.

The bourse opened at 6,723.66 and fluctuated between 6,726.73 and 6,665.63 during trading.

A total of 3.26 billion shares were transacted on a market turnover of 94.29 billion new Taiwan dollars (2.91 billion U.S. dollars), down from Thursday’s turnover of 104.22 billion HK dollars (3.22 billion U.S. dollars).

Four of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with paper and pulp issues moving up the most at 2.6 percent, followed by construction issues at 2.1 percent, banking and financial shares at 0.3 percent, and cement stocks at 0.1 percent.

Three of the eight major stock categories lost ground, with textile stocks and machinery and electronics shares both moving down 0.4 percent and foodstuff issues dropping 0.3 percent.

Plastics and chemicals shares remained unchanged.

Losers outnumbered gainers 584 to 422, with 171 stocks remaining unchanged.