TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices are expected to open little changed with no
strong leads after a mixed Wall Street performance on Friday, dealers said.
Investors are also likely to stay on the sidelines in the near term, pending
concrete measures from the new government of president-elect Ma Ying-jeou toward
improving relations with China, they said.
On Friday, the weighted index closed up 43.71 points at 8,963.63 on turnover
of 177.76 bln twd.
Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth 1.19 bln twd, local
investment trusts net buyers of 2.59 bln twd, and brokers net buyers of 2.56 bln
twd.
"Rangebound trading appears to be the theme today," said an analyst with a
local securities house who asked not to be identified.
Overall, local companies' first quarter results have been lackluster with
guidance not too impressive for the current quarter, giving investors little
reason to turn aggressive, he said.
The analyst said the market may trade sideways in the days before the
president-elect is sworn in on May 20.
Investors will want to verify whether Ma makes good on his pledge for
rapprochement with the mainland, especially after his appointment of a
pro-independence politician as head of the island's top China policy body, he
said.
The benchmark index is likely to trade in a range of 8,800-9,100 points, he
added.
(1 usd = 30.50 twd)
philip.wang@afxasia.com
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