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14:39 13Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks hit 4-mth closing high; AU jumps * Key index hits 4-mth closing high, boosted by global gains * AU limit-up 7 pct on report of rising utilisation rate * Tourism issues rally on China Premier's comments * Turnover at highest level in 7 months (Adds details and quote) By Gina Chang TAIPEI, March 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 3 percent on Friday to a four-month closing high on a strong rise in global markets, with AU <2409.tw> jumping after a report the LCD maker's capacity utilisation rate could increase by the second quarter. The tourism sub-index <.THOI> jumped 6.3 percent after China's Premier Wen Jiabao said he wanted to visit Taiwan. [ID:nPEK148770] Shares of AU Optronics, Taiwan's top flat panel maker, jumped by their 7 percent daily limit after a local newspaper reported the firm's capacity utilisation rate could rise to over 90 percent by the second quarter on a slew of rush orders. AU's smaller rival Chi Mei <3009.tw> rose 3.7 percent and the electronics sub-index added 2.9 percent. "China's home electronics subsidies will be a long-term boost for LCD shares. Besides, it's a growing industry. I think LCD stocks have a great chance to keep rising," said Alex Huang, a vice president of Mega International Securities. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> finished up 142.7 points at 4,897.4, its highest close since Nov. 5. Turnover rose to a seven-month high of T$125.0 billion ($3.6 billion), up from Thursday's T$84.4 billion. Huang expects the market to trade between 4,800-5,100 points next week. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> rose 4 percent, helped by gains in Asian financial stocks. Cathay Financial <2882.tw>, Taiwan's top listed financial holding firm, gained 4.8 percent. The company said late on Thursday it could raise its investments in equities and real estate to help boost returns. [ID:nTP95006] However, DRAM shares were mixed after a newspaper reported Taiwan Memory Co (TMC) is leaning towards using Elpida's <6665.t> technology and ProMOS' <5387.two> production capability as the company begins to take shape. [ID:nTP148498] Shares of ProMOS lost 6.2 percent, while larger rival Nanya Tech <2408.tw> gained 2.9 percent. Shares of Powerchip <5346.two>, Taiwan's top DRAM maker, rose 5.1 percent after it said it was not expecting significant government help for local DRAM makers, and was in talks with Japan's Elpida on a possible merger or other tie-up. [ID:nTP163036] HOT STOCKS -- Smartphone maker HTC <2498.tw> ended limit-up after a newspaper said the firm would likely launch its new product "HTC Maple" next month. -- The tourism sub-index <.THOI> rose 6.3 percent, buoyed by China Premier Wen Jiabao's comment on Friday. [ID:nPEK148770] Tourism shares also rallied ahead of a record-sized group of 12,000 Amway workers from China scheduled to arrive at Taipei on Monday for a three-day visit. Shares of hotel operators Ambassador Hotel <2704.tw> and Leofoo Development Co <2705.tw> both surged by their daily 7 percent limit. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 3.0 percent Close on day 4,897.39 2009 intraday high 4,923.57 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$34.5) (Additional reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Anshuman Daga) ((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
For Related News, Double Click on one of these codes:[E] [Z] [MF] [PSC] [RNP] [DNP] [PTD] [PMF] [TW] [ASIA] [STX] [EMRG] [LEN] [RTRS] [.TW] [.TWII] [.MSTW] For Relevant Price Information, Double Click on one of these codes:<.TWII> <.MSTW> Friday, 13 March 2009 14:39:54RTRS [nTP151106] {EN}ENDS