Taipei shares close sharply lower as Wall St, oil price doubts persist - UPDATE

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed sharply lower, reversing early gains led by financials, as investors opted to cash out after two consecutive winning sessions in response to Wall Street gains and lower oil prices, dealers said. Skepticism about whether US markets can continue to improve -- heightened by Merrill Lynch's plunge in after-hours trade due to disappointing quarterly results -- and whether oil prices are headed significantly lower weighed more heavily with investors than the Taiwan government's moves to speed up normalization of economic relations with China. Gordon Chen, Taiwan's top financial regulator, was reported as saying that the government may allow China's qualified domestic institutional investors (QDIIs) to invest in the Taiwan equity market as early as August. His remarks followed the government's... [read full story]