TAIPEI, March 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks fell on Tuesday as dour overseas markets and weak export orders data at home weighed on investor sentiment.
No surprise from Apple Inc's latest iteration of its flagship smartphone also failed to give key tech shares a lift.
As of 0233 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.6 percent at 8,759.11, after closing 0.02 percent higher in the previous session.
The electronics subindex sank 0.9 percent, while the financials subindex lost 1.0 percent.
Apple suppliers were mostly down, with Hon Hai Precision Industry and Pegatron, both of which assemble iPhones, were lower 0.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which supplies some of the chips in the iPhones, was off 1.3 percent.
Apple on Monday launched its least expensive iPhone as the company tries to reverse falling phone sales, but the new gadget did not wow tech experts or investors.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's export orders in February fell for the 11th month in a row, data released after market hours on Monday showed, cementing expectations of a rate cut at the central bank's next meeting on Thursday.
The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.096 to T$32.449 per U.S. dollar.
(Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)