Taiwan share prices closed down 0.61 percent Thursday on follow-through selling after the downside in the previous session amid lingering fears of a slower pace of the global economy recovery, dealers said. The weighted index fell 47.24 points to 7,689.74, after moving between 7,666.51 and 7,758.14, on turnover of NT$119.44 billion (US$3.73 billion). The market opened up 6.14 points after Wall Street's slight rebound overnight, but selling emerged immediately, putting pressure on old economy stocks that had scored significant gains on warming cross-strait business ties, dealers said. After the index fell below the 7,700 points during the trade, bargain hunters began picking up select large cap high tech stocks, which supported the broader market to some extent, the dealers said. A total of 2,619 stocks closed down and 1,053 up, while 222 remained unchanged. The foodstuff sector suffered the steepest decline, dropping 2.4 percent. Cement stocks fell 1.9 percent, financials lost 1.5 percent, paper and pulp shares dropped 1.3 percent and textile stocks closed down 0.7 percent. The machinery and electronics sector fell 0.5 percent and the construction sector lost 0.4 percent, while the plastics and chemical sector rose 0.3 percent. 'The market remained overshadowed by concerns about the global economic fundamentals, ' TLG Asset Management analyst Arch Shih said, referring to recent disappointing U.S. home sales figures. 'After yesterday's sell-off, market sentiment has been hurt badly, with the index failing to stage a technical rebound today,' Shih said. The local bourse closed down 2.56 percent Wednesday. Shih said valuations of traditional industrial stocks, such as food and textile firms, remained high despite Wednesday's heavy losses, but added that these stocks may face further volatility in the near future. However, select electronics, in particular integrated circuit designers, appeared attractive after recent consolidation, he said. 'They could serve as a safe haven to park money, ' he said. 'But, I think investors should boost cash positions in their portfolios for now and wait for fresh leads before acting.' In the foodstuff sector, Oceanic Beverages fell 6.93 percent to NT$25.50 and Wei-Chuan Foods dropped 3.33 percent to NT$33.40. Among the financial stocks, Chang Hwa Bank fell 2.75 percent to NT$17.70 and Cathay Financial dipped 1.27 percent to NT$46.70. On bargain hunting, IC designer MediaTek rose 1.62 percent to NT$438.00 and flat panel maker AU Optronics increased 1.28 percent to NT$27.65. 