Taiwan: Stocks rise before presidential vote; TSMC jumps

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Friday in line with other regional bourses, but market sentiment remained cautious ahead of polls on Saturday in which the main opposition independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is likely to return to power.

The main TAIEX index was up 0.6 per cent at 7,789.85 as of 0135 GMT, after closing 1 per cent down at 7,742.88 in the previous session.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, soared as much as 4.9 per cent to its highest in more than one week, after fourth-quarter net profit came in better than expected.

The electronics subindex rose 1.4 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.2 per cent.

REUTERS