Techs lift Taiwan stocks to 2-month closing high

Published: 05 Mar 2009 23:21:44 PST

TAIPEI, March 6 - Taiwan stocks rose 0.35 percent on Friday, hitting a fresh two-month closing high, as technology shares such as TSMC <2330.TW> and Chi Mei <3009.TW> jumped on rising demand from China's subsidy programmes.

The main TAIEX share index <.TWII> ended up 16.43 points at 4,653.63, marking its strongest close since Jan. 7 and extending a 5 percent gain over the previous three sessions.

Shares of top contract chip maker TSMC jumped 4.08 percent and shares of LCD maker Chi Mei rose 4.98 percent.

However, major DRAM shares weakened after the Taiwan government announced it will set up a new chip company to consolidate the struggling sector. (US$1=T$34.9)