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14:20 25Mar09 RTRS-Techs push Taiwan stocks to 5-1/2-mth closing high * Market rises for 3rd day to 5-1/2-mth closing high * Mediatek jumps on report of expected upbeat March sales * Hon Hai up on report of tie-up with Metro Group By Gina Chang TAIPEI, March 25 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 1.99 percent on Wednesday, up for a third day to hit their strongest close in 5-½ months, with Mediatek <2454.tw> leading tech shares higher. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended 104.20 points higher at 5,346.38, its highest finish since Oct. 7. The TAIEX has risen about 8 percent so far this week. Turnover rose to T$146.9 billion ($4.3 billion), its strongest level since May 30 and up from Tuesday's T$139.1 billion. The electronics sub-index <.TELI> jumped 2.71 percent. "Ample liquidity in the market helped prop up indexes today," said Eddy Chen, a vice president of National Investment Co. "Tech shares also got a boost from the Taiwan dollar, which weakened yesterday after previous gains," said Chen, adding the market could be pressured around 5,500-5,600 points. The Taiwan dollar eased on Tuesday and Wednesday after strong gains over the past week or so, which will make Taiwan's export-led companies, such as technology firms, more competitive. Mediatek Inc, Taiwan's top chip designer and the third-most active share by turnover, jumped 5.76 percent after a newspaper said the firm could see sales hit a record in March thanks to better-than-expected demand for cell phones from China. "The market has more or less factored in positive news on rush orders. Now investors will focus on companies that have better fundamentals and whose sales could keep rising," said Andrew Deng, a vice president of Taiwan International Securities. The report also said Mediatek was set to sign an agreement with Qualcomm to use the U.S. company's patents for its 3G chips. Rush orders from China that helped offset a fall in Taiwan's export orders in February also lifted market sentiment. [ID:nTP173438] Hon Hai <2317.tw>, Taiwan's top electronics gear maker, gained 5.59 percent after local media said the company would form a joint venture with European retailer Metro in 2010 in a bid to tap China's fast-growing consumer electronics market. Shares of Powerchip <5346.two>, Taiwan's top DRAM maker, and its smaller rivals, Nanya Tech <2408.tw> and ProMOS <5387.two>, all rose by their daily 7 percent limit. Powerchip's share move comes before the company holds a media briefing scheduled for 0830 GMT. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 1.99 percent Close on day 5,346.38 2009 intraday high 5,365.81 2009 intraday low 4,164.19 All time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------ (US$1=T$33.9) (Editing by Nick Macfie) ((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; ReutersMessaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.come@reuters.com)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email tonews.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 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
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