Taiwan: Stocks up after Sept PMI rises from Aug

[Taipei] Taiwan stocks extended gains on Thursday after the Nikkei/Markit Taiwan Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for September showed the rate of deterioration eased from the previous month.

September data, however, signalled a further sharp fall - one of the steepest seen in three years - in new export work in Taiwan's manufacturing sector.

Across the strait, the final Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing PMI also showed China's factory activity shrank by the most in over six years last month as new orders fell.

As of 0219 GMT, the main TAIEX index rose 0.6 per cent, to 8,232.11, after closing up 0.6 per cent in the previous session.

The electronics subindex rose 0.7 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.2 per cent.

Sinopec Financial Holdings dropped 0.5 per cent after Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) scrapped a proposal to buy a US$600 million stake in the Taiwanese bank.

The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.378 to T$32.750 per US dollar.

REUTERS