Taiwan stocks rose on Tuesday in cautious trade in the last session before a long holiday break and as the local dollar strengthened to levels not seen in over three months. As of 0323 GMT, the main TAIEX index was up 0.3 percent at 9,449.85 points, after closing up 1 percent at a fresh year-and-a-half high in the previous session.
The electronics subindex rose 0.3 percent, while the financials subindex was unchanged. The gains came as the Taiwan dollar strengthened against the US dollar to levels not seen since early October. Near midday trade, the Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.095 to T$31.336 per US dollar.
Taiwan observes a public holiday from January 27 through February 1 for the Lunar New Year. The island's stock market will be closed from January 25 while the foreign exchange and money markets will trade until the end of Thursday. All financial markets resume trade February 2.