The nation’s major poultry producers saw their stock prices tumble yesterday, but were confident that they would not be affected by an outbreak of the H5N2 avian flu virus that has resulted in the culling of about 60,000 chickens in the country.
Charoen Pokphand Enterprise (Taiwan) Co (卜蜂) and Great Wall Enterprise Co (大成長城企業) shares opened down by the maximum allowable 7 percent amid the scare before recovering somewhat by the end of the day on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The benchmark index of the main bourse fell 1.35 percent yesterday, dragged down by heavy losses in food shares amid concerns over the avian flu outbreak at poultry farms.
The TAIEX fell 109.7 points to close at 8,004.74 on turnover of NT$107.04 billion (US$3.63 billion).
A total of 956 stocks closed up and 3,551 finished down, with 228 remaining unchanged.
Great Wall Enterprise, the largest chicken provider in Taiwan, closed down 3.73 percent at NT$31, while Charoen Pokphand fell 5.69 percent to NT$15.75.
The two companies said their own chicken farms and contract farms were not affected by the outbreak and stressed that their chicken products were all strictly examined before being shipped to customers.
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