Taiwan: Stocks rise led by techs; orders data offers hope

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Thursday as technology shares gained on optimism over export orders in March that offered some hope of a pickup in demand, and tracking overseas markets.

The main TAIEX index rose 0.3 per cent to 8,543.56 as of 0409 GMT, after closing down 1.4 per cent in the previous session.

The electronics subindex rose 0.7 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.1 per cent.

Taiwan's export orders, which are dominated by demand for tech-related components, fell for the 12th month in a row in March. But growth in orders for electronics goods, the first in a year, was taken as an encouraging sign for Taiwan's many large tech companies who play a key role in the global supply chain.

Big-cap contract chipmaker TSMC was up 1.6 per cent and electronics manufacturer Hon Hai was also up over 1 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar softened TW$0.031 to TW$32.279 per US dollar.

REUTERS