Taiwan stocks rose 0.17 percent in light trading on Wednesday, paced by gains in AU Optronics Corp after it said it expected to return to profitability this quarter and predicted an LCD shortage in the third quarter.
The main TAIEX share index was up 13.54 points at 7,988.57, recovering from its lowest closing level in almost two weeks on Tuesday. The electronics sub-index climbed 0.26 percent lifted by a 0.98 percent gain in AU, the world's No 3 LCD panel maker.
"There has been tight supply in the LCD market. We expect that to continue through the end of this year," said Brent Lin, who manages T$10.2 billion (US $306 million) for Capital Securities Investment Trust. "For the overall market, the upside seems very limited as the turnover has shrunk so much for two straight sessions."
Trading fell to T$66.09 billion ($1.98 billion), its lowest level so far this year, compared with T$68.76 billion a day ago. The fund manager said he did not plan to buy stocks in the short term. He now has 87 percent of his portfolio in stocks, down from 90 percent two weeks ago.
AU led smaller peers higher, with Chi Mei Optoelectronics rising 0.4 percent and HannStar Display up 2.1 percent. AU gave upbeat forecasts for the second and third quarters in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday.
Mobile phone maker BenQ Corp ended 0.82 percent lower. BenQ chairman K.Y. Lee told Reuters that he was confident about the firm's recovery by early next year. Taishin Financial, whose major shareholders include private equity fund Newbridge Capital, closed flat following gains during the session.
Citigroup set a target price of T$19.5 on Taishin, or an 18 percent upside potential from Tuesday's closing price, citing low risk on improving fundamentals, according to a research report Citigroup issued on Wednesday.
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