Taiwan stocks up

Taiwan stocks closed 0.39 percent higher on Tuesday, with department stores and food companies leading the index, as investors piled up on shares after losses the previous session. Analysts, however, expected the main share index would stay under pressure from high oil prices and face technical resistance at the 8,800 level on dwindling risk appetite.
"Gold as a hedging tool reached a record high yesterday, showing that investors were very risk-averse," said Henry Chen, a manager at KBC Concord Asset Management. The TAIEX index was up 33.96 points at 8,747.75, after opening down 0.25 percent. The department store sub-index surged 2 percent, while food shares gained 1.5 percent. Electronics edged up 0.31 percent. Banking shares slipped 0.1 percent.