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14:09 23Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks hit 5-mth high as TSMC, ProMOS surge * Market hits over 5-mth closing high as TSMC, UMC lead * ProMOS limit-up after majority investors agree redemption * Banking shares rise as govt proposes lower ceiling on rates (Adds details, quotes) By Gina Chang TAIPEI, March 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 3.28 percent on Monday to a more than five-month closing high, with bellwether TSMC <2330.tw> leading technology shares higher after the company said it would end unpaid leave from April. Shares of struggling DRAM maker ProMOS <5387.two> surged after it said more than 79 percent of investors holding its convertible bonds had agreed to accept its offer to buy them back at a discount or withdraw their redemptions. [nTP124386] The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended up 162.56 points at 5,124.18, a closing level not seen since Oct. 15. Turnover was moderate at T$92.7 billion ($2.7 billion), lower than Friday's T$101.4 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's top contract chip maker, jumped 5.45 percent after saying late on Friday it would end all unpaid leave for staff across the company from April. [ID:nTP145703] "Visibility has become clearer in the tech sector, boosting market heavyweights (such as TSMC) today," said Robert Hsieh, a vice president at Shin Kong Investment Trust. "Tech shares have a good chance to lead the market up further. But at the same time, we need to watch if tech exporters will be pressured by recent rises in the Taiwan dollar." The Taiwan dollar had gained more than 3.9 percent on Friday since hitting a 22-year intraday low in early March due to a recent surge of foreign fund inflows and exporters selling U.S. dollar earnings from some rush orders. The currency was unchanged around midday on Monday. TSMC shares also got a boost after a local newspaper cited estimates from chip equipment makers that TSMC and smaller rival UMC <2303.tw> have seen their utilisation rates rising to 65 percent and 50 percent, respectively, in the second quarter. Shares of UMC ended by their 7 percent daily limit, and the semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> was up 4.59 percent. ProMOS was another big winner, jumping limit-up to T$0.96, after state-owned Bank of Taiwan said earlier on Monday the DRAM maker would likely get a T$3 billion syndicated loan from the lender and other banks. [nTPU001209] "It's still very unclear what would happen next to ProMOS. But some investors bought its shares, making speculative bets on the shares since its price has become very low," said Wang Kao-hsiung, a vice president of KGI Securities. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> rose 3.39 percent after local media said the Taiwan government would propose maximum interest rates banks charge on credit card loans of 15.5-18.5 percent, higher than the 12.5 percent lawmakers have initially approved. [nTP59284] Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw>, the island's top credit card issuer, jumped 2.12 percent. Shares of Cathay Financial <2882.tw> rose 3.73 percent after a company executive said the firm and MF Global would launch Taiwan's first futures fund, with plans to raise T$7 billion for the fund in May. [ID:nTP69974] HOT STOCKS -- Smartphone maker HTC <2498.tw> and Mediatek <2454.tw>, Taiwan's top chip design house, rose 0.93 percent and 2.33 percent, respectively, after a newspaper said on Monday both firms were expected to benefit from China's upcoming launch of third-generation (3G) phone services. -- Digital camera equipment maker Asia Optical <3019.tw> jumped 6.28 percent after saying on Monday it will set up a Hong Kong joint venture with Singapore's electronics maker Flextronics to manufacture digital cameras. [nTP171287] -- Cosmos Bank <2837.tw> fell 3.9 percent after Taiwan's top financial regulator said on Friday it had approved an application by the bank, majority owned by a key U.S. hedge fund, to close 12 of its branches on the island. [ID:nTP150950] --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 3.28 percent Close on day 5,124.18 2009 intraday high 5,125.40 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) ((Editing by Jacqueline Wong)) ((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.come@reuters.com)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.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
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