Taiwan stocks ended 0.11 percent lower on Friday, paced by financial shares such as Cathay, amid renewed concerns the sector would not see a major improvement in earnings even as a consumer credit crisis eased. The main TAIEX share index slid 9.62 points to 8,883.21, with the financial sub-index off 0.88 percent and the electronics sector ticked 0.07 percent higher.
The benchmark index ended the second quarter with a 12.7 percent gain, and it logged a first-half rise of 13.5 percent. Friday's slide capped the financial sub-index's gain for the month of June to 10 percent. Still, some analysts said share gains in the financial sector were not justified by its earnings growth. "The credit crunch has largely abated, but we will not see a major pick-up in bank earnings anytime soon," said Alex Huang, an assistant vice president of Barits Securities.
Taiwan's top financial holding firm Cathay Financial fell 1.75 percent. Rival Shin Kong Financial was off 0.65 percent. Taiwan's banking market, the fourth largest in Asia, has suffered from limited growth, in part because the credit crisis dragged them into losses and because they are not allowed to invest in China to serve many Taiwanese firms with operations there. Among other major losers in the tech sector, smartphone maker High Tech Computer fell 1.34 percent and Hon Hai Precision Industry, a big exporter of electronics parts, lost 0.7 percent.
Union Insurance, part of the troubled Eastern Group, closed 7-percent limit up.
Want Want Holdings has entered the race for a stake purchase in the insurer as the exclusive period for suitor Newbridge expired, a source close to the companies said on Friday. Shares of Want Want, a Taiwan food company with most of its earnings from operations in China, slipped 0.43 percent in Singapore trading.