stock / 32.458/ 807 / +5.2

13:59 18Sep09 RTRS-Taiwan stocks at 15-mth high on LCD, bio shares * LCD, biotechnology shares lead Taiwan stocks higher * Turnover thin following losses on Wall Street * Taiwan stocks inching towards overbought territory * Analysts say commodity stocks could rise next (Adds quotes, details) By Kelvin Soh TAIPEI, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks rose 0.66 percent to a near 15-month closing high on Friday, as continued optimism over the global economic recovery helped boost LCD stocks including Chi Mei <3009.tw>. The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended the session up 49.25 points at 7,526.55, its strongest close since June 27 last year. "LCD shares have been climbing for quite a while now, and I'm not confident that they will climb much further," said Kevin Huang, a fund manager at King's Town Bank. "I would prefer to look at commodity-related shares now because the economic uptick could lead to inflationary pressures at some point, which is usually good for commodities." Taiwan's top LCD maker AU Optronics <2409.tw> rose 2.04 percent, while smaller rival Chi Mei closed up 4.32 percent after a local newspaper reported that Chi Mei was considering restarting work at a next-generation factory. Turnover was thin at T$113 billion ($3.5 billion), with some investors staying away after losses on Wall Street overnight. Other gainers included the biotechnology sub-index <.TBII>, which rose 1.95 percent as local media continued to play up fears over the H1N1 flu pandemic. Apex Biotech <1733.tw> was up 3 percent, while Excelsior <4104.tw> rose 5.95 percent. The Taiwanese market has climbed more than 63 percent this year, and is currently the third-best performing index among thirty tracked by Thomson Reuters, just behind China's Shenzhen <.SZSA1> and Shanghai <.SSEA> share indexes. Investors have been betting that closer ties with the island's giant neighbour China and a rebound in consumer demand in the United States, its second-largest export market by country, would be good for Taiwan's export-reliant companies. This month alone, Taiwan stocks have risen over 10 percent, with a relative strength index (RSI) reading of 64 and inching closer towards overbought territory. An RSI reading of above 70 is typically taken to mean that a share is overbought. "We could see some profit-taking pressure in the short term," said Tom Tang, vice-president at Masterlink Investment Securities. "I'm still optimistic about the long term, but the temptation to take profit after this rally is growing." For a table of foreign trading in Taiwan stocks, double-click on [ID:nTP170358] (Editing by Chris Lewis) ((kelvin.soh@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508 0815; Reuters Messaging: kelvin.soh.reuters.com@reuters.net) ((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
For Related News, Double Click on one of these codes:[E] [Z] [MF] [M] [T] [D] [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> Friday, 18 September 2009 13:59:18RTRS [nTP121219] {EN}ENDS