twn stock 0424

14:16 24Apr09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks close higher, financial shares lead * Financial shares lead mkt higher before cross-Strait talks * AU falls despite upbeat outlook * DRAM mixed amid Samsung Electronics' comment (Adds details and quotes) TAIPEI, April 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks inched up 0.09 percent on Friday, with financial shares such as Cathay Financial <2882.tw> rising ahead of cross-Strait talks on Taiwan and China opening their financial sectors. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed up 5.53 points at 5,880.77, but gave up much of its early gains as investors locked in profits. Turnover was active at T$144.5 billion ($4.3 billion), rising from Thursday's T$130.7 billion. Financial shares rose as a third round of negotiations between Taiwan and China is set to take place on Saturday, which will include talks on opening up financial sectors to each other and expanding direct flights. "The cross-Strait meeting propped up financial shares today. But since most details of the talks were disclosed, the boost is wearing off," said Alex Huang, a vice president of Mega International Securities. The banking and insurance sub-index <.TFNI> advanced 1.11 percent, extending a more than 18 percent rise so far this month. Cathay Financial, Taiwan's top listed financial holding firm, rose 1.53 percent, but Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw>, the island's largest credit card issuer, ended 0.33 percent lower. Investors are also expecting more Chinese funds to flow into the stock market as Taiwan will likely relax rules on investment from China after the cross-Strait talks. On Tuesday, a local newspaper said Taiwan planned to let Chinese investors indirectly buy up to 30 percent of Taiwanese companies in the latest sign of improving ties across the Taiwan Strait. [ID:nTP94629] However, investors were seen taking profits from a 2 percent rise early in the session, analysts said. The electronics sub-index <.TELI> surrendered early rises to close 0.18 percent lower. AU Optronics Corp <2409.tw>, the world's No.3 LCD maker, fell 0.71 percent, taking a breather after gaining over 24 percent so far this month. "AU shares have risen a lot, and failed to get a boost from the company's results yesterday since the figures were in line with expectations," said Huang. "Investors were also disappointed as AU didn't give a time on when it will finally swing to profit." After the market closed on Thursday, the flat panel maker forecast a rise in shipments and prices this quarter after reporting its second straight quarterly net loss due to weak demand. [ID:nTP38557] DRAM makers were mixed after the world's top DRAM maker, South Korea's Samsung Electronics <005930.ks>, said it was premature to expect a near-term demand recovery for the overall market. [ID:nSEO297517] Sentiment was further damped after local media said John Hsuan, a sector veteran overseeing government-supported DRAM company Taiwan Memory Co, was considering resigning. Powerchip <5346.two> and Nanya Tech <2408.tw>, the island's top two DRAM companies, fell 2.22 percent and 6.15 percent, respectively. But ProMOS <5387.two> was up by its 7 percent daily limit. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 0.09 percent Close on day 5,880.77 2009 intraday high 6,071.06 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$33.7) (Reporting by Gina Chang; Editing by Chris Lewis) ((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
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