twn stock 0202

14:05 02Feb2009 Taiwan stocks hit 2-wk high, DRAM shares rally

* Market finishes at two-week high
* DRAM shares jump on hopes of rising chip prices, Qimonda
* LCD issues rise on report of demand rebound
* Financials drop on worries over growing bad debts

(Adds details and quote)
TAIPEI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.28 percent to
a two-week closing high on Monday, the first trading day after
the long Lunar New Year holiday, bolstered by DRAM makers such
as Powerchip <5346.TWO> following the insolvency of Qimonda
.
The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended 12.01 points higher
at 4,259.98, its strongest finish since Jan. 19. The electronics
sub-index <.TELI> rose 1.34 percent.
Shares of Powerchip and Nanya Technology <2408.TW>, the
island's two biggest DRAM makers, both jumped by their 7 percent
daily limit, pushing the semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> 3.37
percent higher.
Smaller rival ProMOS <5387.TWO> ended limit up, paring
earlier losses. The company is under pressure to repay T$11
billion ($333 million) in company debt by Feb 14, a local
newspaper said on Monday.
"After Qimonda failed, DRAM makers will benefit in the short
term from lower production capacity in the sector. But we need
to see how the global economy fares and whether demand will
finally rise," said Eddy Chen, a vice president of National
Investment Trust.
Qimonda on Friday became the first major maker of dynamic
random access memory (DRAM) chips to file for insolvency as a
result of huge industry price declines and a global financing
squeeze.
Electronic components research firm DRAMeXchange said in a
statement last week that prices of key DRAM chips could rise to
vendors cash cost level, helped by Qimonda's insolvency filing.
[ID:nLQ115872]
Taiwan's top LCD maker AU Optronics <2409.TW> and smaller
rival Chi Mei <3009.TW> both rose more than 1 percent.
Their gains came after a local newspaper reported that
specialty glass maker Corning , whose glass is used in
flat-panel displays, said demand for LCD screens could rebound
by the next quarter.
However, the financial sub-index <.TFNI> fell 2.95 percent
to its lowest closing level in more than 2 months on lingering
concerns about rising bad debts amid the global economic
slowdown.
Cathay Financial <2882.TW>, the island's top listed
financial holding firm, dropped 4.51 percent. Chinatrust
Financial <2891.TW>, Taiwan's largest credit card issuer, shed
5.02 percent.
Turnover on the main exchange was light at T$50.3 billion,
slightly higher than T$49 billion in the previous session, as
most investors stayed sidelined on worries over dismal results
of U.S. firms and worsening local economic figures, said Wang
Kao-hsiung, a vice president of KGI Securities.
Wang expected the market to trade between 4,000-4,400 points
this week.

HOT STOCKS
- China Steel Corp <2002.TW>, Taiwan's top steel maker,
ended flat after a media report said the company posted its
first-ever loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 on falling
material prices and declining production. [ID:nTP24663]

- ASE <2311.TW>, the world's top chip packaging firm, jumped
3.72 percent after saying it would spend up to T$4.85 billion
buying back about 5 percent of its shares, in a bid to protect
shareholder equity. [ID:nLN378656]
------------------------------------------------------------
Move on day 0.28 percent
Close on day 4,259.98
2009 intraday high 4,817.44
2009 intraday low 4,164.19
All time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990
------------------------------------------------------------
For a table of foreign trading in Taiwan stocks,
double-click on [ID:nTP170358]
(US$1=T$33.8)
(Reporting by Gina Chang; Editing by Ken Wills)
((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters
Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.come@reuters.com))
ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:
Pan-Asia......[STXNEWS/AS] Japan........[.T] S.Korea....[.KS]
S.E. Asia............[.SO] Hong Kong...[.HK] Taiwan.....[.TW]
Australia/NZ.........[.AX] India.......[.BO] China......[.SS]
OTHER MARKETS:
Wall Street...........[.N] Gold.........[GOL/] Currency..[FRX/]
Eurostocks...........[.EU] Oil...........[O/R] JP bonds...[JP/]
ADR Report..........[ADR/] LME metals..[MET/L] US bonds...[US/]
Stocks News US...[STXNEWS/US] Stocks News Europe...[STXNEWS/EU]
DIARIES & DATA:
IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary [ASIA/EQTY]
U.S. earnings diary [RESF/US] European diary [WEU/EQTY]
Taiwan diary [TW/DIARY] Wall Street Week Ahead [.N/O]
Eurostocks Week Ahead [.EU/O] World forecasts
TOP NEWS:
For top Asian company news, double click on: [nTOPEQA]
U.S. company news [TOP/EQU] European company news [TOP/EQE]
Forex news [TOP/FRX] Global Economy news [TOP/MACRO]
Technology news [TOP/TECH] Telecoms news [TOP/TELCO]
Media news [TOP/MEDIA] Banking news [TOP/FIN]
Politics/General news [TOP/G] Asia Macro data
A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at:
http://topnews.session.rservices.com
LIVE PRICES & DATA:
World Stocks <0#.INDEX> Currency rates
Dow Jones/NASDAQ <.DJI> <.IXIC> Nikkei <.N225>
FTSE 100 <.FTSE> Debt <0#USBMK=>
Taiwan dollar LME price overview
TAIWAN MARKET:
Taiwan equity mkt TAIEX <.TWII><.TV.TW>
Other indices <0#.INX.TW> TAISDAQ <.TWOII><.TV.TWO>
TAIMEX Taiwan index futures <0#TX:> MSCI Taiwan index <.MSTW>
SIMEX Taiwan index futures <0#STW:> FTSE TW50 index <.FTSETW50>
Keywords: MARKETS TAIWAN STOCKS

Monday, 02 February 2009 14:05:06RTRS [nTP280692 ] {C}ENDS