Taipei shares outlook: Higher on NASDAQ/institutional investor support

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices are expected to open higher on the back of NASDAQ's upturn overnight and institutional investor support yesterday, dealers said.	    They said gains for Micron Technology and the Philadelphia semiconductor index overnight should provide some support for the local chip makers but any upturn may be capped after the North America chip equipment February book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.77 pct from a revised 0.80 pct in January, highlighting continuing weakness in the industry.	    Yesterday, the weighted index closed up 107.53 points at 5,730.95 on turnover of 116.78 bln twd. 	    Foreign institutions were net buyers of shares worth 2.93 bln twd, local investment trusts net buyers of 856.44 mln twd and brokers net buyers of 698.96 mln twd.	    SinkoPac Securities Co manager Aaron Huang said the NASDAQ recovery should receive a warm response here, with local chip stocks likely to take their lead from Micron's latest comments.	    "There are signs suggesting that the inventory correction in the PC industry has been proceeding more quickly than in the communications sector, with the former heading for improvement," Huang said.	    However, the general electronics sector looks to continue under pressure and it is possible that outsourcing contracts could be affected.  

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