14:09 11Mar09 RTRS-Financials, TSMC push Taiwan stocks to 2-mth high * Market hits 2-month closing high as financials jump * TSMC rises after upbeat forecast * Compal jumps on positive sales guidance * DRAM shares down after government move * Busiest trading in seven months By Gina Chang (Adds details and quotes) TAIPEI, March 11 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday in busy trade, hitting a fresh two-month closing high, as financials led the rally after Citigroup said it was profitable in the first two months of 2009. Semiconductor shares were also boosted after contract chipmaker TSMC <2330.tw> raised first-quarter guidance, showing its current sales slump may have bottomed. [ID:nTP219809] The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 88.94 points higher at 4,759.96, slightly lower than a closing peak reached on Jan. 7 and following a Wall Street rally that saw the major indexes rise more than 5 percent. Turnover shot up to a seven-month high, rising to T$111.9 billion ($3.3 billion) from Tuesday's T$86.5 billion. The banking and insurance sub-index <.TFNI> jumped 4.22 percent, tracking a 16 percent surge in U.S. financial shares, which were boosted by Citigroup's upbeat comment. "I think financial shares' jump today is a short-term rebound, as the fundamentals of the economy remains weak," said Bevan Yeh, a senior fund manager of Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust. Shares of Cathay Financial <2882.tw>, the island's top listed financial holding firm, rose 5.54 percent. Shares of Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw>, Taiwan's largest credit card issuer, and Shin Kong Financial <2888.tw> both rose by their 7 percent daily limit. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) , the world's top contract chip maker, gained 3.29 percent after the firm sharply raised its first-quarter sales and margin forecasts due to rush orders from China. Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank both raised their target prices on the chip maker after its guidance revision. [nTP374411] "The semiconductor industry is hitting a bottom, but we aren't sure if it'll soon recover. The industry might even be pressured when it enters a usually slack business season in the second quarter," said Eddy Chen, a vice president of National Investment Trust. Taiwan's semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> rose 1.71 percent while the Philadelphia Stock Exchange index of semiconductors <.SOXX> jumped by 8 percent overnight. Compal Electronics <2324.tw>, the world's No.2 contract laptop PC maker, jumped 4.82 percent after the company said it hoped to hit the high end or exceed its first quarter sales target. [nPEK373602] Compal's larger rival Quanta <2382.tw> advanced 3.72 percent after some local media said the firm would manufacture touch-panel PCs for Apple . [nTP374787] However, DRAM shares dropped after the chief of a new Taiwan DRAM company, Taiwan Memory Co (TMC), said the firm would not consolidate the DRAM sector and the establishment of a new DRAM company does not aim to support individual firms. Shares of Powerchip <5346.two> and Nanya Tech <2408.tw>, Taiwan's top DRAM makers, dropped 6.46 percent and 2.35 percent. Smaller rival ProMOS <5387.two> was down by its 7 percent daily limit. HOT STOCKS -- Chi Mei <3009.tw>, Taiwan's No. 2 flat panel maker, fell 0.82 percent even after the firm said it expected its LCD shipments to rise 20 percent this year from a year earlier. [nSHA248213] -- Hon Hai <2317.tw>, the island's top electronics gear maker and the most active share by turnover, edged up 0.15 percent, lagging the broader market after its February sales dropped 10.6 percent from a year ago. [ID:nTP226989] -- Formosa Plastics <1301.tw> rose 6.68 percent after a newspaper said on Wednesday Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, one of Formosa Plastics' largest shareholders, will increase its stake in the company despite the downturn. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 1.9 percent Close on day 4,759.96 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$34.3) ((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
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