Taiwan stocks closed 0.66 percent higher on Monday, though Formosa Petrochemical Corp plunged 6.9 percent, the maximum allowed in a day, after reporting the seventh fire in a year at its flagship refinery over the weekend. The company said it has shut the 540,000 barrels per day (bud) refinery for safety checks. Its chairman and president resigned over the fires.
Its sister companies Formosa Plastics Corp, Nanya Plastics Corp and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp all ended limit-down. The main TAIEX index was up 57.2 points at 8,701.38, after opening down 0.16 percent, with machinery counters the top gainers, surging 4.02 percent. The financial sub-index rose 2.95 percent, while electronics shares climbed 1.35 percent. Oil and gas counters were the biggest losers, pulled down by the Formosa Group.