Taiwan share prices closed down 0.40 percent Wednesday in thin trading after investors took their cues from a Wall Street fall overnight on disappointing U.S. existing home sales data, dealers said. The weighted index fell 30.53 points to 7,582.15, after fluctuating between 7,549.98 and 7,615.44, on turnover of NT$77.26 billion (US$2.41 billion). The market opened 0.48 percent lower amid renewed worries over the pace of the global economic recovery, and pressure persisted throughout the trading session ahead of the nearest technical resistance at around the 7,600-point mark, according to the dealers. A total of 1,729 stocks closed down and 1,166 were up, with 335 stocks remaining unchanged. The paper and pulp sector suffered the heaviest pressure, down 0.9 percent. Financial shares closed down 0.7 percent, cement shares were 0.6 percent lower, plastics and chemicals were down 0.5 percent lower and the machinery and electronics sector ended the day down 0.4 percent. Textile stocks gained 1.3 percent and foodstuff shares rose 0.9 percent, while the construction sector closed unchanged. Tom Tang, an analyst with MasterLink Securities, said the Wall Street losses provided investors with an excuse to pocket profits from recent significant gains on the local bourse. 'Investors are watching closely how U.S. markets perform after Tuesday's pullback,' Tang said. 'If Wall Street continues to fall, foreign institutional investors might move their funds out of Asia to meet redemption demand at home,' Tang said. Judging from reduced turnover in the past two sessions, Tang said, many investors preferred to stay on the sidelines amid fears of possible heavy pressure ahead of 7,600 points. United Microelectronics Corp. dropped 1.00 percent to NT$14.80 and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 0.80 percent to NT$62.10. Flat panel maker Chimei Innolux dropped 1.51 percent to NT$35.90 and Hon Hai Precision, the world's largest contract producer of electronic goods, dropped 0.81 percent to NT$122.50. 'A good strategy for now is to keep cash. If the market stages a rebound, investors had better lower their holdings,' Tang said. However, he said that as optimism over the possible signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement with China in the middle of this year remains in place, firms that have close business ties with China might outperform the broader market. Among the retailers that have built distribution networks in China, Ruentex added 3.02 percent to close at NT$88.70 and Synnex rose 1.52 percent to end the day at NT$73.60. 