Taiwan stocks end at one-month high as techs jump

Taiwan stocks rose to their highest close in a month on Wednesday, as gains in US tech shares and hopes of a tech recovery lent strength to tech heavyweights like United Microelectronics Corp (UMC). The main TAIEX ended up a 0.62 percent at 6,018.69 points, while turnover rose to T$93.72 billion from T$74.5 billion on Tuesday. "Foreign investors have stepped up buying in the past few days and that helped boost sentiment," said Maggie Chien, consultant at Capital Investment Management.
The shares of local electronic firms had suffered from concerns over weak quarterly profits and the possible impact from a stronger Taiwan currency.
Foreign investors have been big buyers in the past several sessions, accumulating a net T$12.23 billion of local shares on Tuesday alone.
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), the world's number-two contract chipmaker and the market's most active issue, jumped 2.45 percent to T$20.90, helping the heavily weighted electronics sub-index 1.01 percent higher.
UMC's bigger rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) finished up 1.9 percent at T$53.50 after US stocks marked their second consecutive day of gains.
Minutes after the close of trade, UMC posted weak quarterly profits, but said inventory adjustment would not last very long and saw recovery in the second half of 2005.
Further down the production chain, display screen maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp also gave on Tuesday upbeat forecasts for the first quarter even as the firm reported a surprisingly steep net loss for the fourth quarter.
Chi Mei shares gave up earlier gains to end flat at T$44.80.
Cyclical shares also took a breather from recent gains that had been fuelled by expectations of rising demand and product prices this year. China Steel, the island's top steel producer, dropped 0.28 percent to T$35.40 and petrochemical titan Formosa Plastics finished flat at T$56.00.
The over-the-counter market's TAISDAQ index closed up 0.45 percent at 111.85, and February TAIEX futures jumped 0.72 percent to end at 6,023.