Taiwan shares end higher on gains in U.S. stocks

Taipei, May 29, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan shares ended higher yesterday as overnight gains on Wall Street offset negative concerns over Taiwan's economic fundamentals, analysts said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and other tech issues led the rally following strong gains in their U.S. counterparts, said analysts. Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite Index surged 3.09%.

However, concerns over Taiwan's economic fundamentals and the impacts of SARS on the island's exports forced investors to lock in profits, capping earlier gains.

The government's economic monitoring indicator for April flashed a "blue" light for the first time since February 2002, indicating the domestic economic performance further weakened from the "yellow-blue" level in March, officials said a day earlier.

The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose 23.30 points, or 0.52%, to 4474.41 in dealings valued at NT$75.70 billion, the highest daily turnover of the past month. Advancers outnumbered decliners 282 to 279, while 167 issues remained unchanged.


TSMC, the world's dedicated chipmaker, closed up NT$1.20 to NT$50.50 and its rival, United Microelectronics gained NT$0.10 to NT$20.50.

DRAM chipmakers Winbond Electronics rose NT$0.20 to NT$15.60 and Nanya Technology advanced NT$0.50 to NT$22.30.

Overall, the electronics subindex ended 0.7% higher and financial shares closed up 0.6%.

Among actively traded financial issues, Grand Commercial Bank edged up NT$0.05 to NT$10, Cosmos Bank gained NT$0.15 to NT$13.65, while Polaris Securities added NT$0.20 to NT$15.10.

The price index of the over-the-counter market inched down 0.01 point to 86.06 in dealings valued at NT$6.47 billion.

June index futures on Taiwan's futures exchange closed up 51 points to 4485 on turnover of 29,412 lots. June electronics futures gained 1.90 points to 186 on volume of 2,180 lots, while June financial futures rose 6.60 points to 672.20 on turnover of 1,857 lots.