Taiwan stocks end 1.27 percent up, industrials surge

Taiwan stocks ended 1.27 percent higher at a 4-1/2 month high on Monday as big industrial conglomerates took advantage of strong investor sentiment to boost share prices of listed units before books close on 2005.
The TAIEX share index finished with a gain of 80.73 points at 6,431.42, approaching its year high of 6,481 for its strongest close since August 4.
Members of big traditional-industry groups were the biggest advancers, with Far Eastern Textile, flagship firm of the Far Eastern Group, surging the 7 percent daily trading limit with a T$1.50 gain to T$22.95.
"Liquidity is definitely coming back into the market. There may not be any special news but Taiwan is still lagging behind many international markets this year and has room to catch up," said Masterlink Securities analyst Chiang Chen-sheng.
"Conglomerate-related shares are rising. This is a good opportunity for them to do some window-dressing," he said.
Shipper Evergreen Marine, member of transport and travel conglomerate Evergreen Group, also jumped limit-up, while sister firm EVA Airways rose 2.39 percent.
Market turnover was busy at T$115.74 billion, though that was down from Friday's hectic T$129.98 billion.
Gains in industrial heavyweights did not come at the expense of electronics shares, which extended their advance after spearheading last week's rise.
United Microelectronics Corp, the world's second-largest contract microchip maker, was the most active issue and rose 1.91 percent to T$18.70.
Banking shares were the worst-performing sector after Mega Financial Holdings said it planned to buy a 26 percent stake in Taiwan Business Bank at a maximum of T$9 per share on the open market as a prelude to an acquisition.
Mega, Taiwan's second-largest listed financial firm, fell 3.28 percent to T$22.10 as analysts said the T$9 limit may hamper the purchase. Taiwan Business Bank rose 2.51 percent to T$8.59 and was the second most active issue, however.
Electronics sub-sectors that missed out on last week's share gains were also big advancers as they played catch-up.
Microchip packager King Yuan Electronics jumped 4.03 percent to T$31.00. Printed circuit board maker Ya Hsin Industries posted a 2.74 percent rise, and competitor Unimicron Technologies rose the daily limit to T$34.30.