Taiwan: Stocks trade above 10,000 mark amid cyberattack concerns
[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Monday to trade above the key 10,000 level amid concerns over a global ransomware attack and a missile test by North Korea.
The main TAIEX index settled above the 10,000 mark for the first time in 17 years last week, but traders say foreign investment flows remain vulnerable to global developments.
The TAIEX index was up 0.2 per cent at 10,010.13 as of 0228 GMT, after closing down 0.2 per cent in the previous session.
Asian stocks were shaky after a hacking attack locked up more than 200,000 computers in over 150 countries and a missile test by North Korea on Sunday kept investors on edge.
No major hiccup was reported from market participants in Taiwan with financial regulators, at a regular parliamentary session, saying no abnormalities had been detected.
"In March, Microsoft released a patch. At that time, the central bank immediately touched up its computers. Right now, we can confirm we're not affected," the head of the central bank's information division said.
The electronics subindex rose 0.3 per cent, while the financials subindex gained 0.2 per cent.
Shares of big-cap electronic firm Hon Hai Precision were up nearly 1 per cent, while those of TSMC were down 0.2 per cent. Both companies told Reuters that their systems had not been affected by the ransomware malware.
The Taiwan dollar firmed NT$0.034 to NT$30.167 per US dollar.
REUTERS
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