Taiwan stocks up

Taiwan stocks closed 1.14 percent higher on Thursday, as Acer hit a 10-year closing high after IDC said the company's market share rose in the fourth quarter of last year. The main TAIEX share index rose 93.42 points to 8,289.98. Turnover rose to T$146 billion ($4.6 billion) from T$141 billion in the previous session.
"The outlook for the PC industry remains strong now," said Tom Tang, vice president at Masterlink Investment Advisory. "Coupled with the recent restrictions on hot money, many foreign funds are looking to invest in some of Taiwan's better-known names." Acer, the world's No 2 PC brand, rose 4.51 percent to its strongest close since April 2000, pulling the broader electronics sub-index up 1.67 percent.
Earlier, research firm IDC said Acer's market share continued to grow in the fourth quarter of last year, helped by the company's strong performance in the popular low-cost netbook PC segment. Other PC-related plays such as Compal and Asustek also rose, climbing 3.44 percent and 3.18 percent, respectively. "Compal is one of the biggest contract laptop makers by shipments, but its price-to-earnings ratio is still low compared to its peers," said Kevin Lin, vice president at Fuh Hong Financial Planning.
Investors should now look at shares that have been lagging the overall board that are likely to fuel gains in the coming weeks, said Masterlink's Tang. "Electronics shares will always rise first, because that's what Taiwan is best known for in foreign circles," he said. "Now is the time to look at financials and commodity plays because they've lagged overall gains."
Top financial shares such as Cathay Financial lagged the big board, rising 0.51 percent ahead of a memorandum of understanding between Taiwan and China that will take effect on Saturday. The memorandum of understanding between Taiwan and China allows the island's financial firms to tap the mainland market and paves way for banks on both sides to invest in each other. Smaller rivals such as Fubon Financial and Shin Kong Financial also lagged gains, rising 0.39 percent and 1.12 percent, respectively.