Taipei shares close lower on Wall St/weak April trade data/earnings prospects

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) - Share prices closed lower in thin trade following Wall Street's fall overnight, with sentiment further undermined by the weak April trade data and concerns over second-quarter corporate earnings prospects, dealers said.	    They noted that corporate results for April point to a softening of second-quarter earnings compared to the previous quarter.	    The weighted index closed down 53.22 points or 1.02 pct at 5,176.71, off a high of 5,256.79 and a low of 5,105.37. 	    Volume was 1.61 bln shares worth 50.62 bln twd. 	    Decliners led risers 440 to 88, with 59 stocks unchanged. 	    Seven stocks closed limit-up and 92 limit-down.	    The paper, food, cement, petrochemicals, textiles, construction, electronics, and financial sectors were down 3.86 pct, 3.51 pct, 3.03 pct, 2.60 pct, 2.42 pct, 2.01 pct, 0.76 pct, and 0.30 pct, respectively. 	    The Taiwan dollar closed the morning session at 32.884 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's close of 32.879.	    "Corporate sales in the second quarter are seen down 10-20 pct from the previous quarter, triggering a sell-off in the broad market," Sen Yen Securities Investment Consulting Co Ltd vice chairman Samson Chueh said.	    "The reduced margin trade outstanding suggests that more retail investors have checked out from the market."	    He said investors cut their portfolios on fears of further political uncertainty in the run up to the May 20 first anniversary of President Chen Shui-bian's assumption to power.	    "Some were uncertain whether the 5,000 points (support level) on the index could be defended."	    Further, there were no positive leads significant enough to convince position-building at the moment, he added. 	    Bargain-hunting in select electronics stocks emerged in late trade and curbed the downside of the broad market, dealers said, but they noted that the bargain-hunting was driven more by technical factors rather than by any concrete improvement in fundamentals.	    Asustek rose 4.50 twd to 149.00, VIA added 2.00 to 288.00, Realtek gained 2.00 to 178.00, and Quanta rose 1.50 to 112.00.	    Taiwan Cellular lost 0.60 to 48.10, weighed down by concerns over the company's going ex-dividend tomorrow, which negated the initial positive impact of reports that Taiwan Cellular plans to acquire TransAsia.  	    Chunghwa Telecom rose 0.50 to 65.00, China Development lost 0.40 to 28.00, Tatung fell 0.60 to 10.55, Yageo fell 1.80 to 40.80, First Commercial inched up 0.10 to 20.40, Chang Hwa Bank was 0.20 lower at 15.70, and Formosa Chemicals lost 0.50 to 23.00. These companies earlier reported April parent sales.	    Nanya Technology rose 0.20 to 29.60 after announcing it has entered into an alliance with Silicon Storage Technology Inc on chip technology.	    Ritek Inc lost 1.00 to 63.50, failing to benefit from the announced plan by  DuPont Displays that it will buy 8 pct of Ritek Display.	    Compeq added 4.50 to 92.50, buoyed by the approval at its AGM of a 2000 dividend and a China investment.	    First International Computer was limit-down 1.10 at 16.00. 	    Yulon Motor added 0.10 to 17.50 after its rating was affirmed by Taiwan Ratings.	    China Motor gained 0.70 to 28.30, Macronix lost 0.30 to 49.70 and Tung Ho Steel lost 0.10 twd to 9.60, despite earlier announcing a share buyback plan. 

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