Taiwan stocks rose 0.32 percent on Monday as big exporters including chip designer Mediatek Inc got a boost from a rally on Wall Street, but low turnover reflected lingering fears about subprime sector woes. Taiwan's main TAIEX rose to a two-week intraday high before late profit-taking kicked in.
The index ended up 28.22 points at 8,718.31, extending last week's 7 percent rebound from a sell-off triggered by worries about the US credit market. The exchange's turnover stood at T$117.54 billion ($3.56 billion), down from T$131.7 billion in the previous session.
"If you take a look at trading volume, you will see investors' confidence hasn't yet recovered. The rebound could come to an end any time," said Grand Cathay Securities analyst Kevin Yeh. Heavy selling pressure could emerge when the TAIEX climbs to the quarterly moving average near 8,926 points, Yeh said.
Mediatek, which supplies chips for cellphones, DVD players and digital TVs, gained 0.76 percent, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, gave up early gains to close unchanged. Laptop PC maker Quanta Computer Inc fell 4.88 percent after the company said it was changing its CEO, pulling the computer and peripherals sub-index down 0.8 percent.
Quanta and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co are set to report second-quarter earnings later this week. Hon Hai shares rose 4.57 percent after going ex-dividend on Monday. The financial sector edged 0.1 percent lower.
But Cathay Financial, the island's No 1 financial holding firm, jumped 0.4 percent after Citigroup said in a research report that the recent pullback in shares of Cathay was overdone. China Steel Corp, Taiwan's biggest steel producer, was unchanged after the firm said it would keep most domestic steel prices unchanged in the fourth quarter.
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