Taipei, June 18 (CNA) Taiwan’s share prices fell below the four-month moving average of 6,160 in shrinking turnover Thursday.

Finishing lower for the fifth consecutive day, the weighted index, the market’s key barometer, lost 51.38 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 6,144.53.

The local bourse opened high at 6,246.85 and rose to 6,279.36 at one point before dropping to the day’s low of 6,100.08.

A total of 3.69 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$94.92 billion (US$2.88 billion).

Among the eight major stock categories, only textiles gained ground, advancing 0.2 percent.

The other seven major stock categories lost ground, with cement stocks moving down the most at 2.3 percent. Banking and financial shares dropped 1.6 percent, foodstuff issues fell 1.5 percent, plastics and chemicals stocks shed 1.2 percent, paper and pulp issues lost 0.8 percent, machinery and electronics shares dropped 0.4 percent, and construction shares fell 0.3 percent.

Losers outnumbered gainers 1,534 to 617, with 129 stocks remaining unchanged.

Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth NT$2.53 billion.

Shares of Taiwan’s largest memory-chip maker Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. dropped by the daily maximum of 7 percent because its stocks will be downgraded to the full-cash delivery stock class Friday if it fails to secure approval for its plan to reset the conversion price of its ECBs from bondholders.

(By Y.L. Kao)