Taiwan stocks rose on Friday, led by local technology shares, following a rally in overseas markets, particularly the United States. As of 0234 GMT, the main TAIEX index was up 1.1 percent at 8,698.51, after closing mostly unchanged in the previous session. The electronics subindex rose 1.2 percent, while the financials subindex gained 1.0 percent. Among actively traded shares, chipmakers TSMC and UMC were up 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.
The buying was driven by strong gains in US tech stocks after the S&P 500 closed at its highest in two months on Thursday and buying accelerated in after-hours trading. The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.27 to T$32.388 per US dollar.