stock / 32.428/ 723 / -2.6

14:30 25Sep09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks end 4-day loss, helped by banks * Banking and construction shares up after c.bank holds rate * UMC and TSMC lead technology shares higher * Epistar up after securing license from Philips Lumileds * TAIEX seen trading 7,200-7,400 next week (Updates index, adds quotes, details) TAIPEI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.29 percent on Friday, helped by banking shares such as Fubon Financial <2881.tw> after Taiwan's central bank kept interest rates unchanged and said the pace of economic contraction had eased. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> edged 21.00 points higher to end at 7,345.22, snapping a four-day losing streak. The TAIEX hovered at a 14-month high but fell 2.4 percent this week, its worst week in one month. Financial shares <.TFNI> were the session's top gainers, up 1.99 percent. Fubon Financial jumped 5.44 percent. Construction shares <.TCOI> were up 0.95 percent, with real estate developer Farglory <5522.tw> rising 3 percent. "Taiwan stocks outperformed regional markets with help from asset-related shares, probably because people felt they could take advantage of a low interest rate to borrow money and make investments," said Michael On, a managing director at Beyond Asset Management. Taiwan's central bank kept the interest rate steady at a record low and left the money supply growth target unchanged at 2.5-6.5 percent although growth in M2 has been exceeding its previous target for most of this year. M2 supply grew 8.17 percent in August from a year earlier. [ID:nTP44833] Financial shares were also buoyed by a local newspaper report that some Taiwanese banks with branches in Hong Kong will be allowed to do deposit and currency exchange business in Chinese yuan in Hong Kong. Taiwanese banks that have set up branches in Hong Kong, such as Chinatrust Financial <2891.tw> and Taishin Financial <2887.tw>, rose 1.67 percent and 2.66 percent, respectively. "Taiwan stocks are going through a technical correction, but we will not likely to see a major movement in the market because turnover is quite thin," said Alex Huang, a research director at Mega International Securities Co. Huang expects the main index to trade mainly between 7,200 and 7,400 next week. The exchange's turnover was light on Friday, with T$96 billion ($3 billion) worth of shares changing hands. Technology shares <.TELI> recouped losses in early trade, edging up 0.11 percent. UMC <2303.tw>, the world's second largest contract chip maker, rose 0.33 percent after a newspaper reported that it could beat its own third-quarter sales target after one of UMC's key clients raised its sales growth target. Its larger rival TSMC <2330.tw>, the world's largest contract chip maker, advanced 0.49 percent. Hon Hai <2317.tw> was flat after a newspaper reported that the electronics giant's Shanghai headquarters would be completed and in charge of its new business. But Catcher Technology Co <2474.tw>, the session's most actively traded stock by turnover, shed 4.02 percent as investors unloaded the stock on concerns it had become overvalued. Department store shares <.TDEI> were among the top gainers, rising 1.59 percent on hopes that a week-long holiday period in China would bring tourists and a boost in sales on the island. HOT STOCKS -- LED chip maker Epistar Corp <2448.tw> rose 0.3 percent after a newspaper reported that it has secured new LED technology licenses from Philips Lumileds after both companies settled a patent lawsuit. -- Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) <2475.tw> slipped 1.77 percent after Chinese regulators approved a private share placement between C.P.T's subsidiary and China's Mindong Electric Group <000536.sz>. [ID:nHKG314647] ---------------------TAIEX IN PERSPECTIVE------------------ Move on day 0.29 pct Close on day 7,345.22 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] (Reporting by Joan Hsu; Editing by xxx ) ((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] Torex 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
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