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14:27 10Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks at 2-mth closing high, but TSMC down * Powerchip, Nanya up on state injection plan for DRAM firm * UMC jumps despite weak sales * TSMC down ahead of posting Feb sales, better Q1 guidance * Cathay Financial up after posting Feb profit By Gina Chang (Adds details and quotes) TAIPEI, March 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.92 percent on Tuesday to a two-month closing high, with contract chip maker UMC <2303.tw> leading gains and DRAM makers rising after Taiwan announced an injection plan to boost the struggling DRAM sector. However, shares of the world's top contract chip maker TSMC <2330.tw> dropped 2.28 percent. Minutes after the market close, TSMC said its February sales fell 59 percent from a year earlier, the biggest drop since it went public. [nTPU001184] The main TAIEX <.TWII> share index ended up 42.78 points at 4,671.02, its strongest finish since Jan. 7, reversing losses early in the session and a 0.55 percent fall in the previous session. Turnover was moderate at T$86.5 billion ($2.5 billion), but higher than Monday's T$78.5 billion. UMC , the smaller rival of TSMC, rose 1.44 percent, reversing early losses despite the firm posted a 57 percent fall in February sales to its lowest level in more than nine years. [ID:nTP176295] "UMC sales might hit a bottom in February, which is in line with market expectations, as we're seeing its capacity and orders rising," said Andrew Deng, a vice president of Taiwan International Securities. The semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> fell 0.47 percent, pressured by the fall of TSMC stocks, while the electronics sub-index <.TELI> gained 0.41 percent. In the DRAM sector, shares of Powerchip <5346.two> and Nanya Tech <2408.tw>, Taiwan's top DRAM makers, rose 0.28 percent and 2.41 percent, respectively. But shares of smaller rival ProMOS <5387.two> fell 5.93 percent. Taiwan will inject up to T$30 billion into Taiwan Memory Co (TMC), the new DRAM company it is setting up to bring long-term viability to its struggling memory chip sector, the official spearheading the new company's establishment said on Tuesday. [nTP168041] Analysts said the news did not move DRAM stocks substantially, as uncertainty remains high in the sector. "What investors care most about right now is which foreign rival (Elpida <6665.t> or Micron ) will participate in the new company, but that decision won't likely be made in the near term," said Deng. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> rose 1.96 percent after several financial companies posted profits in February. Cathay Financial <2882.tw>, the island's top listed financial holding firm, rose 1.25 percent after posting a profit of T$2.2 billion in February, up 16.3 percent from a month earlier. [nTP226989] Another bright spot was the transportation sub-index <.TTPI>, rising 0.96 percent, after a local newspaper quoted chairman of Evergreen Marine <2603.tw> as saying that its shipments rose about 20 percent
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