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14:54 31Mar09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks mark best monthly gain since 2001 * Financials up on hopes of setting up Chinese branches * Compal gains on rising demand from U.S., Europe * Tourism shares up on expectations of more Chinese tourists (Adds details and quotes) TAIPEI, March 31 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks ended 0.09 percent higher on Tuesday, helped by gains in financial shares such as Cathay Financial <2882.tw> on hopes that local banks could set up branches in China in the second half of this year. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> finished up 4.79 points at 5,210.84, bouncing back after logging its worst single-day drop in 2-1/2-months a day earlier. Turnover was moderate at T$94.2 billion ($2.8 billion), lower than Monday's T$107.4 billion. In March alone, however, the TAIEX has gained 14 percent, its biggest monthly gain since late 2001 and was one of the best performing global stock markets, according to Reuters data. The market rose as much as 1.5 percent by midday before giving up most of its gain by the close. Investors were cautious after recent gains and awaited economic data from the United States and monthly sales figures from local firms due out by April 10. Analysts said the market will take a breather from recent strong gains but expected the upward trend to resume as a much-anticipated agreement with China for the financial sector by mid-year is likely to prop up financial issues. Cathay Financial, the island's top listed financial holding firm, gained 0.34 percent. The financial sub-index <.TFNI> finished 1.19 percent higher. Taiwan banks are expected to set up branches in China in the second half of this year if the two sides sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on opening up their respective financial sectors during a meeting in May, local media reported. "The news is a big boost since current regulations are pretty strict. Financial shares will be a leading sub-index through June when the signing of the MOU is expected to take place," said Alex Huang, a vice president of Mega International Securities. However, some analysts said earnings at local banks would not benefit from the possible move any time soon. Shares of Compal Electronics <2324.tw>, the world's No. 2 contract laptop PC maker, rose 3.18 percent after it said demand from China, the United States and Europe is picking up, and plans to add about 30 percent more new employees by June. [ID:nTP175253] The electronics sub-index <.TELI> inched down 0.04 percent. DRAM shares were mixed after media reported the economics ministry saying Taiwan Memory Co (TMC) will not announce on Tuesday its choice of either Japan's Elpida <6665.t> or Micron of the United States as its technology partner. TMC has said it was likely to make a decision on its foreign technology partner by the end of March at the earliest. Shares of Powerchip <5346.two>, Taiwan's top DRAM maker, dropped 4.13 percent and smaller rival Nanya Tech <2408.tw> fell by the daily 7 percent limit. The semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> was 0.86 percent lower. ProMOS <5387.two>, the island's No.3 DRAM maker, was flat after the firm said 80 percent of investors holding its convertible bonds have agreed to accept its offer to buy them back at a discount or withdraw their redemptions, paving the way for it to secure a loan from banks. [ID:nTP117381] HOT STOCKS -- The tourism sub-index <.THOI> was the day's top advancer, which jumped 6.52 percent on optimism over growing numbers of tourists from China. Local media reported a group of representatives from Chinese travel agencies arrived in Taiwan on Monday to survey potential theme travel. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 0.09 percent Close on day 5,210.84 2009 intraday high 5,468.49 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$34.0) (Reporting by Gina Chang; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe) ((gina.chang@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508-0815; Reuters Messaging:gina.chang.thomsonreuters.com@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 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:[M] [T] [E] [MF] [Z] [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> Tuesday, 31 March 2009 14:54:46RTRS [nTP178164] {EN}ENDS