Taiwan: Stocks rise; semiconductors, flat panels gain

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose 0.9 per cent on Wednesday, pulled higher by strong quarterly and monthly earnings from key companies in the island's tech sector.

As of 0222 GMT, the main TAIEX index rose 83.59 points to 9,466.68, after closing down 0.3 per cent on Tuesday.

The electronics subindex was up 1.47 per cent, with semiconductors up 2.56 per cent and optoelectronics notching a 2 per cent gain.

These subindexes were lifted by a stellar monthly sales report from the world's largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd and quarterly profit announcement from No.3 flat-panel maker Innolux Corp , which rose 4.21 and 6.73 per cent, respectively.

Banks and insurance holdings rose 0.2 per cent, while oil, gas and electric shares dropped 0.12 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar was up T$0.013 to stand at T$31.489 to the US dollar.

REUTERS