Taiwan stocks up

Taiwan stocks closed 1.37 percent higher on Thursday, recovering from a loss in the previous session, with cement and food shares leading the main share index. Fund managers said shares might rise further towards the earning season in April when companies are expected to announce encouraging results.
The TAIEX index closed up 118.47 points at 8,738.37 after opening up 0.48 percent. Cement issues jumped 3.6 percent, while the food sub-index surged 2.5 percent. Most of the component makers of Apple Inc's iPad 2 also rose after the launch of the new tablet.