Taiwan stocks ended up 2.17 percent on Thursday, joining a rally in global bourses amid optimism the eurozone debt crisis could be contained, with LCD makers including Chimei Innolux leading tech exporters higher. However, the gains were seen only as a rebound from the 5 percent losses from the past two sessions, with concern over the debt crisis and the US economy lingering.
"Problems with Greece have developed as cancer. The best thing to hope for is that it will not drag Italy and Spain down with it," said Alex Hu, vice president at Mega Securities' proprietary department. The main TAIEX index rose 157.21 points to 7,385.68, lifted by electronics and construction stocks, rising 2.6 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Chimei Innolux and AU Optronics, the world's No 3 and No 4 flat panel makers, both rose about 5 percent. The financial sub-index advanced 1.7 percent, recovering from an almost 10 percent slide on Tuesday and Wednesday combined.