Taiwan: Stocks extend gains; TSMC leads

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Tuesday and headed for their second straight session of gains, with TSMC leading other heavyweights higher even after the world's top contract chipmaker posted a fall in its January sales.

The main TAIEX index was up 0.8 per cent at 8,127.90 as of 1:20 GMT, after closing marginally higher in the previous session.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) jumped 0.7 per cent after it said on Monday January sales dropped 18.7 per cent on year to T$70.86 billion.

The electronics subindex rose 0.7 per cent, while the financial subindex gained 1.6 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.352 to T$33.069 per US dollar.

REUTERS