Stocks mixed as Nanya gains and Sunplus drops

The TAIEX rose, as exporters such as Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) gained, after a US survey showed consumers in their second-biggest overseas market were more confident than previously estimated.

Nanya Technology rose 60 cents, or 1.8 percent, to NT$33.90.

The TWSE Index added 3.10, or 0.1 percent, to 4858.44 as more than five stocks rose for every two that fell. The total value of trade was NT$63.3 billion ($1.9 billion).

``The US consumer confidence numbers are an excuse for a rebound, though it won't be so big,'' said Karen Lin, who helps manage NT$3 billion (US$89 million) in stocks at Truswell Securities Investment Trust (富鼎投信). ``We've cut our holdings in electronics stocks and are buying plastics-related stocks.''

Sunplus Technology Co (凌陽科技) -- which posted second-quarter profit of NT$501.4 million, down 15 percent from a year earlier -- fell NT$5, or 6.9 percent, to NT$68.

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) rose NT$1, or 2.1 percent, to NT$47.90. The company posted an unaudited second-quarter net profit of NT$12.5 billion, up three-fifths from a year earlier.

Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) rose 20 cents, or 0.6 percent, to NT$31.50. The owner of Taiwan's largest non-life insurer plans to spend as much as NT$20 billion to buy back 639 million shares, or 12 percent of its outstanding shares, a Chinese-language newspaper reported.

Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車) rose NT$1.10, or 3.6 percent, to NT$32.10 after local media reports that the sales agent in Taiwan for Toyota Motor Corp raised its profit forecast for the year by a quarter to NT$1.71 billion.

Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒科技) rose NT$3, or 5.5 percent, to NT$58. The maker of personal-computer monitors said first-half pretax profit rose a fifth to NT$402 million as shipments surged.