Mitac, Asustek, Cathay Financial gain as TAIEX rises

Stocks rose for the first day in five, paced by computer-parts makers such as Mitac International Corp (神達電腦), after the company president said that shipments of orders will increase in the next three months.

TAIEX gained 36.27, or 0.9 percent, to 4,222.22. Almost two stocks rose for every one that fell.

Trading was at NT$54 billion (US$1.54 billion).

Mitac, which makes computers and parts for customers such as Dell Computer Corp, expects shipments to surge in the three months to November as companies use their remaining budgets before the end of the year and customers in Europe place orders after the summer holidays, said Mitac president Francis Tsai (蔡豐賜). Mitac rose 6 percent to NT$16.

Asustek Computer (華碩電腦), rose 3.8 percent to NT$83 on newspaper reports that the motherboard maker said orders are surging in the final week of the month.

The TAIEX fell 14 percent in the past month on concern fourth-quarter demand may fall below expectations because of a slowing economic recovery in the US.

"Christmas hasn't been canceled -- it's not going to be as bad as expected," said Mike Hsiao, who manages NT$500 million (US$14 million) in stocks at Invesco Taiwan (景順投信).

"We're buying motherboard and notebook computer makers," Hsiao said.

Ambit Microsystems Corp (國電) rose NT$6, or 6.4 percent, to NT$100.

The maker of modems and power units said sales this month may rise almost a 10th from August to NT$2 billion as shipments of high-speed cable modems to customers such as Yahoo Japan Corp surge.

Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) rose NT$1.10, or 2.8 percent, to NT$40.10.

The company plans to spend as much as NT$3.08 billion to buy back 50 million shares, or 0.8 percent of its shares. The buyback started yesterday and ends on Oct. 25. Cathay said it will submit an application to Chinese regulators in January to open a branch in China.

Chi Mei Optroelectronics Corp (奇美光電) rose NT$1.40, or 4.6 percent, to NT$31.90 after a Chinese-language newspaper said Taiwan's third-largest flat-panel display maker may sell TV screens to Samsung Electronics Co.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電) rose NT$0.60, or 1.4 percent to NT$42.60.

The US-traded shares of the world's largest supplier of made-to-order chips surged 3.9 percent to US$6.88 yesterday.