Taiwan: Stocks rise on ECB stimulus

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose 1 per cent on Friday, tracking other regional bourses higher after the European Central Bank announced massive monetary stimulus on Thursday.

As of 0200 GMT, the main TAIEX index was up 90.13 points to 9459.81, after closing up 0.53 per cent on Thursday.

Europe's main monetary authority said it would plough more than 1 trillion euros into the continent's economy by September 2016, in an effort to stave off deflation.

Most major subindexes rose, with electronics up 1.33 per cent and semiconductors notching a gain of 1.92 per cent.

Banks and insurance holdings was 1 per cent higher, while computers and peripheral equipment added 0.87 per cent.

The only major laggard was transportation, which fell 0.3 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar was up T$0.141 to stand at T$31.369 to the US dollar, while the island's currency in relation to the Euro rose to a new high of 0.0281.

REUTERS