Taiwan stocks rise on PCs, Acer hits nine-year high

Taiwan stocks rose 0.47 percent on Monday, gaining for a fourth straight session, as positive quarterly results from IBM and the upcoming release of Microsoft's Windows 7 bolstered PC shares such as Acer. The main TAIEX shares index closed 36.22 points higher at 7,751.32, hovering at a 16-month closing high.
Acer Inc, the world's No 3 PC brand, rose 4.04 percent to its highest closing level in nine years, while netbook pioneer Asustek jumped 4.88 percent. The computer and peripheral sub-index advanced 1.5 percent.
"PC shares are encouraged by a combination of positive factors including upbeat earnings results from tech companies like Intel and IBM, and on growing expectation of a rebound in demand," said Vincent Ho, a fund manager at J. P Morgan Asset Management.
The launch of Windows 7 operating system later this week also boosted PC shares. Analysts say the TAIEX could trade in a narrow range between 7,600 and 7,800 this week. "The main index has been edging up on the back of an improving global economy, and it is unlikely that the main index would see a significant rise or pull-back because there are more people watching than trading," said J. P Morgan's Ho.
Turnover was thin at T$112 billion, compared with Friday's T$118 billion and last week's daily average of T$133 billion. Ho said Taiwan stocks would continue to take cues from earnings reports from the United States, which have bolstered the Dow Jones and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a new high last week.
Apple Inc is set to report its quarterly results later this week, followed by Microsoft, Texas Instruments Inc and Amazon.com Inc. Electronics parts giant Hon Hai and Foxconn Tech rose 2.31 percent and 2.42 percent, respectively, after a local newspaper reported that their client Apple was expected to raise its fourth-quarter iPhone shipments by up to 20 percent in the current quarter.
But the semiconductor sub-index trailed losses on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange index of semiconductors, which fell by 2 percent on Friday.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, fell 0.81 percent even after the company's chairman told local media he expected his company's sales next year to return to 2008 levels due to growing chip demand. Financial shares was the session's top loser, falling 0.43 percent.
Cathay Financial, the island's top listed financial holding firm, fell 0.48 percent after a local newspaper reported that Taiwan would push back informal negotiations with China on an economic co-operation framework agreement (ECFA) to the end of the month.