Taiwan stocks rise

Taiwan stocks rose 1.62 percent to a two-week closing high on Monday, as top electronics parts maker Hon Hai led tech exporters higher due to strong gains on Wall Street, falling oil prices and a weaker Taiwan dollar. The main TAIEX share index closed up 116.58 points at 7,325.62, its highest close since July 24, extending a 2.6 percent rally in the previous session.
In the United States, the major indexes rose more than 2 percent on falling oil prices on Friday. "Falling oil prices, raw material prices and the rally on Wall Street all contributed to today's gain," said Kevin Chang, an analyst of Yuanta Securities. "Better-than-expected July sales from firms like Hon Hai and Asustek also gave relief to the market.
A weak Taiwan dollar would boost positive sentiment to the performance of tech shares, but whether it will continue falling remains to be seen." Hon Hai Precision, Taiwan's top electronics parts maker and the market's most active share by turnover, rose by its daily 7 percent limit, lifting the electronics sub-index 2.14 percent. The Taiwan dollar fell to T$31.16 to the US dollar in Monday trading, from its final price of T$31.090 on Friday.
Chang expected the TAIEX to trade between 7,200-7,500 points this week and said the market could test 7,900 points this month. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, rose 0.17 percent, but smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) fell 2.56 percent. On Friday, TSMC posted its smallest annual gains in July sales in 10 months and UMC saw its July sales drop 15 percent from a year earlier after a global economic slowdown hurt tech demand.
Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan's top credit card issuer, rose 1.17 percent even after saying its net profit in the first half was 4 percent lower than previously reported, due to more fallout from the US subprime crisis. The financial sub-index was up 1.55 percent. Asustek and Acer climbed 3.79 percent and 3.27 percent, respectively, after a media report said both companies were evaluating possible alliances with telecoms firms to bundle free low-cost PCs as part of cellular packages.