Taiwan: Stocks rise; buying cautious on weak US markets

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Wednesday though trading was rangebound following the weak close in US markets.

The main TAIEX index was up 0.48 per cent at 9,726.82 as of 0147 GMT, after closing higher 0.18 per cent on Tuesday.

Financial shares were higher following the news of a local merger deal geared toward consolidating the island's overcrowded financial industry.

CTBC Financial Holding, the parent of Taiwan's biggest credit card issuer, said late on Tuesday that it would buy smaller rival Taiwan Life Insurance via a share swap in a deal estimated at T$32.35 billion.

Taiwan Life shares were up 1.5 per cent, trading at levels not seen since January 2011, while CTBC gave back early gains to trade 0.9 per cent lower.

The overall financial subindex was ahead 0.3 per cent, while the electronics subindex was up 0.6 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar was up T$0.106 at T$30.704 to the US dollar.

REUTERS