+12.6/ 32.882 / 1118

14:09 19May09 RTRS-Financials send Taiwan stocks to over 8-mth high * Market rises for 3rd session on Wall Street, China hopes * Financial shares rally after U.S. peers surge * Market up 45 pct yr to date, one of top global gainers (Adds details and quotes) By Gina Chang TAIPEI, May 19 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 1.18 percent on Tuesday to a more than eight-month closing high after a Wall Street rally sparked hopes the global recession is easing, boosting financial shares such as Cathay Financial <2882.tw>. The main TAIEX index <.TWII> rose to as high as 6,784.26 points early in the session but later pared gains as investors grew wary of the market's momentum following recent advances. The TAIEX closed up 77.78 points at 6,655.59, its strongest finish since Sept. 8. Turnover was hefty at T$218.8 billion ($6.7 billion), rising from T$166.5 billion a day earlier. The banking and insurance sub-index <.TFNI>, the day's winner among sub-indexes, jumped 3.6 percent, following a 7.5 percent jump by U.S. banking shares <.BKX>. Cathay Financial, Taiwan's largest listed financial holding firm and the most active stock by turnover, jumped 5.16 percent. Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw>, the island's No.1 credit card issuer, advanced 1.22 percent. "The rally on Wall Street and positive news on cross-Strait ties fueled today's gains," said Robert Hsieh, a vice president of Shin Kong Investment Trust. A group of Chinese firms, including Lenovo Group <0992.hk> and Qingdao Haier <600690.ss>, are expected to buy up to $10 billion worth of products from Taiwan, local media reported on Tuesday, the latest signs of improving ties with China. "The market will be pressured after recent strong gains, but it still has momentum to rise further by the end of this month. There is a lot of money in the market to support the market's gains, and some foreign investors will increase their holdings after MSCI's adjustment," said Hsieh. Hsieh expected the market to test 7,000 points by the end of May. The TAIEX has risen 45 percent so far this year, making it one of the top performers in major global markets, as investors bet warming ties with economic powerhouse China could help the island's recession-hit economy. Last week, index compiler MSCI Barra added 22 Taiwan stocks to its MSCI Taiwan Index <.MSCITW>, the biggest increase among other global markets. Losses in tourism and auto shares capped the day's gain as investors pocketed gains from their recent rises. The tourism sub-index <.THOI> fell 2.88 percent, giving up part of its 18 percent gain so far this month. The automobile sub-index <.TAUI> ended down 2.16 percent. The electronics sub-index <.TELI> rose 1.2 percent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) <2330.tw>, the world's top contract chip maker, gained 1.79 percent, following a 5.29 percent surge in its ADRs in New York trading. TSMC's smaller rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) <2303.tw> was up 1.49 percent. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 1.18 percent Close on day 6,655.59 2009 intraday high 6,784.26 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$32.9) ((Editing by Ken Wills; 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 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> Tuesday, 19 May 2009 14:09:20RTRS [nTP235411] {EN}ENDS