Taiwan shares ended up 0.17 percent on Wednesday at a five-week closing high after a Wall Street rally spurred by hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week, boosting the outlook for Cathay and other financial firms.
The main TAIEX share index closed up 15 points at 9,018.12. The financial subindex was one of the top gainers, up 0.99 percent, with Taiwan's biggest financial holding firm Cathay Financial rising 2.54 percent as concerns eased about the lingering impact from the US subprime mortgage crisis.
The heavily weighted electronics subindex climbed 0.23 percent. Shares worth T$134.3 billion ($4.1 billion) changed hands, busier than the previous session's T$128.9 billion.
"Cathay and other financial shares were the worst performers when the US market dropped on the credit crunch. The August profits these firms just posted proved they were hurt by the subprime problem," said Brent Lin, who manages T$20.6 billion ($624 million) for Capital Investment Trust.
The benchmark index should trade in a 9,000 to 9,200 point range for the rest of this week, said Lin. Shin Kong Financial, parent of Taiwan's No 2 life insurer, rose 1.02 percent. Smaller rival Taiwan Life Insurance rose 0.75 percent.
Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's top telecoms carrier, climbed 1.04 percent after a local newspaper report said Chunghwa wanted to increase its stake in Taiwan's tallest building, Taipei 101, by picking up a 15 percent stake being sold by China United Trust & Investment Co.
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