Taiwan: Stocks up; trade cautious in last session before holiday break

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks rose on Tuesday in cautious trade in the last session before a long holiday break and as the local dollar strengthened to levels not seen in over three months.

As of 0323 GMT, the main Taiex index was up 0.3 per cent at 9,449.85 points, after closing up one per cent at a fresh year-and-a-half high in the previous session.

The electronics subindex rose 0.3 per cent, while the financials subindex was unchanged.

The gains came as the Taiwan dollar strengthened against the US dollar to levels not seen since early October. Near midday trade, the Taiwan dollar firmed NT$0.095 to NT$31.336 per US dollar.

Taiwan observes a public holiday from Jan 27 through Feb 1 for the Lunar New Year.

The island's stock market will be closed from Jan 25 while the foreign exchange and money markets will trade until the end of Thursday.

All financial markets resume trade Feb 2.

REUTERS