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14:37 02Jul09 -Taiwan stocks reach near 1-mth closing high * Optoelectronics gain as AU, Chi Mei jump * PC-related shares up on hopes of rising demand in Q3 * Property plays up for second straight day on China hopes (Add details and quotes) TAIPEI, July 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan's stock index ended 1.35 percent higher on Thursday, reaching its highest close in nearly a month, led by gains in major LCD makers, such as AU Optronics <2409.tw>, after stronger demand from China. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> closed 88.56 points higher at 6,667.53, with a moderate turnover at T$138 billion ($4.2 billion), its highest turnover since June 9. "The monthly sales in June should be good and that boosted technology shares," said Bevan Yeh, a senior fund manager at Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust. Yeh said AU and Chi Mei are expected to return to profits again soon, even though he said some investors are still concerned about the strength of the tech sector's recovery in the traditional peak manufacturing season in the third quarter. AU Optronics , the world's No.3 LCD maker, rose 3.5 percent after a newspaper reported that it could have turned profitable in June due to growing demand that has boosted panel prices. Smaller local rival Chi Mei <3009.tw> rose 2.77 percent, leading the broader optoelectronics sub-index <.TOPI> up 2.31 percent. PC-related shares rose on better earnings prospects in the third quarter due to back-to-school demand. The computer and peripheral sub-index <.TCPI> rose 2.53 percent. Quanta <2382.tw>, the world's largest contract manufacturer of laptop PCs and Wistron Corp <3231.tw>, Taiwan's third largest contract maker of laptops, surged 2.12 percent and 4.76 percent, respectively. Electronic parts giant Hon Hai <2317.tw> advanced 0.48 percent. Chip designer Mediatek <2454.tw> rose 1.63 percent after local media reported that its chairman, Tsai Ming-kai, would reverse a previous salary cut it implemented to deal with the economic slowdown. "Investors would become increasingly interested in major tech shares as major tech shares could outperform smaller shares in the third quarter," Yeh said. Upbeat data from the United States and China as well as a strong Taiwan dollar would lend support to asset shares. The construction sub-index <.TCOI>, the session's top gainer, surged 3.11 percent. Taiwan stocks have gained more than 40 percent since the beginning of January, while most people believe the world is on its way to a stronger economy, analysts warned that climbing mortgage defaults in U.S could indicate problems remain. --------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE-------------------- Move on day 1.35 percent Close on day 6,667.53 2009 intraday high 7,084.83 2009 intraday low 4,164.19 All time high 12,682.41 12 FEB 1990 ------------------------------------------------------------ (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 <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
Thursday, 02 July 2009 14:37:57RTRS [nTP136494 ] {C}ENDS