Taiwan: Stocks steady before holidays; blue-chips up

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose in quiet trading on Monday before the New Year holidays, with shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) leading other blue-chips higher.

As of 0200 GMT, the main TAIEX index was up 0.3 per cent at 8,387.33, after closing at 8,363.28 in the previous session.

The electronics subindex rose 0.2 per cent, while the financials subindex gained 0.1 per cent.

Among the most actively traded stocks, TSMC, the world's top contract chip maker, rose 0.4 per cent while Mediatek, Taiwan's biggest chip design house, jumped 1.4 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.208 to T$32.797 per U.S. dollar.

REUTERS