Taiwan stocks climb

Taiwan shares rose 1.09 percent on Wednesday to their highest close since May 20, 2008, with semiconductors among the top gainers on investor optimism about strong earnings results. Fund managers said the index may continue to edge up before the Lunar New Year as sell-off pressure has already been priced in, though tech shares may not continue to be the strongest performers.
The TAIEX index rose 98.02 points to 9,086.02. Semiconductor shares rose 1.53 percent while electronics shares rose 1.32 percent.