Shares rise on back of Wall Street gains

Share prices closed sharply higher yesterday, rising 1.65 percent as sentiment got a boost from Wall Street's gains and a drop in oil prices to below US$70 a barrel, dealers said.

The weighted index rose 107.21 points at 6,587.12, after trading between 6,523.68 and 6,602.81 on turnover of NT$80.60 billion (US$2.45 billion). Bellwether technology stocks performed strongly in tandem with gains by their US counterparts, dealers said.

"The Wall Street factor convinced investors to hunt for bargains after previous declines," said Tom Tang (湯建源), president of Kai Yuan Securities Investment Consultant Co (開元投顧).

"Some were pinning their hopes on the planned protest to oust President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) not leading to any major violent incidents," he said.

Meanwhile, recently-released corporate first-half earnings results did not produce any major surprises, leaving the stock market to extend its technical rebound, Tang said.

United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), which gained NT$0.30 to NT$18.35; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), which increased NT$0.80 to NT$57.30; and Acer Inc, which was limit-up NT$3.10 at NT$47.50.

Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) rose NT$0.37 to NT$9.26, after it signed an agreement with Qimonda to expand their cooperation on the production of standard DRAMs.