stock / 32.200 / 2208 / +12.6

14:22 30Sep09 -Taiwan stocks at 2-wk high on foreign buying, TSMC up * TSMC, UMC and Chi Mei extend gains * C.bank says no signs of overheating in stock prices so far * Market up 17 pct in Q3, following 23 pct in Q2 * Fubon jumps after scrapping GDR plan to raise $900 mln (Updates quotes; Adds hot stocks, details) By Joan Hsu TAIPEI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks closed up 1.07 percent at a two-week closing high on Wednesday as foreign investors extended massive buying in TSMC <2330.tw> and other heavyweights. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> rose 79.19 points to 7,509.17, a level not seen since Sept. 18 and hovering at a 15-month closing high. The main index finished the July-September period up 17 percent, after logging a 23 percent gain in the previous three months, which was the best rally since the fourth quarter of 2001. On Tuesday, foreign investors bought a net T$17.4 billion ($539 million) worth of Taiwan shares, expanding their purchases to T$130 billion for September, the highest monthly purchase since June 2007, according to data compiled by the Taiwan stock exchange. Topping the most actively traded lists by volume and turnover was contract chipmaker TSMC , rising 1.26 percent on top of its gain to 6.2 percent in the last two sessions. The semiconductor sub-index <.TSII> climbed 1.71 percent to its highest level in over 16 months. The gains by TSMC and other chip stocks come after Taiwan's government said it would allow contract chipmakers and flat-panel companies to expand their investments and acquire rivals in China. [ID:nTP321454] "Continued foreign buying helped push the main index up, as technology companies in Taiwan offered promising earnings and valuations," said Alan Tseng, a vice-president at Capital Securities. "Like South Korea, Taiwan relies on exports of electronic products for its economy, and I think the electronics sector will be a main boosting force for the main index in the fourth quarter. But Tseng said the index's rise would be moderate in the fourth quarter, given that it had climbed more than 60 percent since the beginning of this year, largely on the back of closer business ties with China. TSMC's smaller rival UMC <2303.tw> edged up 0.32 percent. LCD maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics <3009.tw> gained 0.9 percent, sending the optoelectronics sub-index <.TOPI> up 1.36 percent. Market sentiment also received a boost after Taiwan's central bank said on Wednesday that it saw no signs of overheating in the island's stock market or housing prices so far. [ID:nSP464987] Construction shares <.TCOI> rose 3.27 percent, with real estate developer Farglory <5522.tw> up 3.19 percent. HOT STOCKS -- Fubon Financial <2881.tw>, parent of Taiwan's No.2 insurer, advanced 1.4 percent after scrapping a plan for an overseas stock sale that would have raised up to $900 million, after reviewing market conditions. [ID:nTP62516] -- Hotai Motor <2207.tw> jumped 4.67 percent, on a newspaper report that it had raised its sales forecast for this year because of stronger-than-expected demand. -- China Air Lines <2610.tw> and smaller rival Eva Airways <2618.tw> slid 3.59 percent and 5.95 percent, respectively. The new shares of the companies via their rights issues started trading on Wednesday. ---------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE------------------ Move on day 1.07 pct Close on day 7,509.17 2009 intraday high 7,558.88 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] ((Editing by Chris Lewis)) ((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
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 14:22:14RTRS [nTP62480 ] {C}ENDS