tw stock 0318

14:16 18Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks hit 5-mth closing high as techs lead * Market up for 4th straight day as tech shares rise * HTC down despite expectations of rising China sales * Mediatek falls on low visibility in demand (Adds details and quotes) By Gina Chang TAIPEI, March 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.12 percent to a five-month closing high on Wednesday, as a Wall Street rally helped lift tech shares including TSMC <2330.tw>, although some investors locked in profits following recent gains. The main TAIEX <.TWII> share index ended up 6.15 points at 5,047.54, its highest close since Oct. 16, 2008, and its fourth straight session of gains. Turnover rose to T$119.4 billion ($3.5 billion) from Tuesday's T$107.4 billion. The electronics sub-index <.TELI> gained 0.51 percent, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) , the world's top contract chip maker, up 0.80 percent. However, gains were pared by investors seeking to lock in profits after recent advances on the stock market. The TAIEX has risen by about 19 percent since the end of January. "The indexes are benefiting from ample liquidity in the market. But the market has actually been overshooting without much healthy fundamental news to support its gains," said Eddy Chen, a vice president of National Investment Trust. "It will be trading within a tight range in the short term as investors have become more conservative." Shares of smartphone vendor HTC <2498.tw> fell 0.59 percent, surrendering early gains. The company said it expected sales in China to double to 1.6 million units this year, and reaffirmed its previous target of double-digit revenue growth this year. [ID:nTP323181] "HTC's China market is relatively small compared with its major U.S. and European markets, so I don't think the news will be a big boost to its shares," said Bevan Yeh, a senior fund manager at Prudential Financial Securities. Mediatek Inc <2454.tw>, Taiwan's top chip designer, fell 1.29 percent after saying visibility in chip demand was not clear in the second half of the year. [ID:nTP316972] But shares of struggling DRAM chip makers rallied after local media said the chip's spot prices have risen more than 10 percent. Powerchip <5346.two> and Nanya Tech <2408.tw>, Taiwan's top two DRAM makers, gained 3.17 percent and 2.55 percent, respectively. Smaller rival ProMOS <5387.two> closed limit up. Powerchip and Nanya shares were further boosted by local media reports that a senior Powerchip executive visited the offices of competitor Nanya's parent company on Tuesday to ask them to align themselves with Japan's Elpida <6665.t>. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 0.12 percent Close on day 5,047.54 2009 intraday high 5,083.55 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$34.2) (Editing by Jacqueline Wong) ((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
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