stock 32.818/862/ +7.0

14:29 31Jul09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks post 6th weekly gain, TSMC jumps * Main index posts sixth straight weekly gain * TSMC jumps after strong Q2 earnings and upbeat Q3 outlook * ASE limit up before posting Q2 result (Updates indexes, quotes and details) By Joan Hsu TAIPEI, July 31 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks ended 0.72 percent higher on Friday, with the world's top contract chipmaker, TSMC <2330.tw>, leading gains after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and gave an upbeat outlook. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> rose 50.60 points to 7,077.71, closing the week with a 1.5 percent gain and marking its sixth straight weekly rise. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) surged 5.18 percent, helping to push the semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> to a 2.38 percent gain. "Solid results from technology companies in Taiwan gave investors reasons to believe that a slow but firm recovery in the global economy is around the corner," said Kevin Yang, president at Paradigm Asset Management. TSMC posted on Thursday a net profit of T$24.44 billion ($743 million) in April-June, its biggest profit in three quarters. [ID:nTP261512] TSMC's second-quarter results saw a sharp rebound as demand for semiconductors across all applications increased. The company expected its sale and profit margins to rise in the third quarter sequentially. [ID:nTP261512] "But the surge we see in shares of TSMC and UMC could just be a flash in the pan, I think some investors still have doubts on the health of the global economy," Yang said. Investors would stay cautious next week because major U.S. indicators such as ISM are coming out early next week, said Kevin Chung, an analyst at Jih Sun Investment Consulting Co, adding the index could pull back next week. The TAIEX index had outperformed most Asian markets, ranking the world's third-best performer among the 30 global indexes tracked by Reuters by a 54 percent rally. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Group <2311.tw> shot up by its 7 percent daily limit. Minutes after the market close, the world's top chip packaging and testing firm posted a quarterly profit that topped market expectations. Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp <3009.tw>, Taiwan's second-largest LCD maker, fell 1.6 percent after the company reported a quarterly loss but gave upbeat guidance for the third quarter. [ID:nTPU001543] --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 0.72 percent Close on day 7,077.71 2009 intraday high 7,142.63 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] (Reporting by Joan Hsu; Editing by Ken Wills) ((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
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