Shares closed slightly higher yesterday while some market participants, particularly foreign investors, were absent during the session, dealers said.
There was little follow-through buying to build on early gains fueled by Wall Street's overnight rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at another record high, they said.
The TAIEX closed up 8.05 points, or 0.11 percent, at 7,076.85, its highest close since May 17. Turnover was NT$75.41 billion (US$2.28 billion).
Risers led decliners 605 to 506, with 152 stocks unchanged.
Yesterday was an extra trading day to compensate for a lost session when the government extended National Day celebrations from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.
"Shares were mired in rangebound trading today as not that many investors stayed on the trading floor," said Wilson Lien, a deputy manager at Jih Sun Securities Investment Co (
This was evidently seen in the stock performances of technology bellwethers, whose turnover contracted sharply from Friday, reflecting the virtual absence of foreign investors on a Saturday, he said.
"Things look pretty promising. ...Taiwan is set to post further laggard gains in the near term, so long as Wall Street does not go the other way," Lien said.
United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) was up 0.28 percent at NT$18.45, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) was down 0.32 percent at NT$63.00.
The paper and pulp subindex, the best-performing sector, rose 4.5 percent.
Long Chen Paper Co (榮成) rose by the daily maximum 7 percent to NT$13.15, Cheng Loong Corp (正隆) rose 6.73 percent to NT$12.70, and Taiwan Pulp and Paper Co (台紙) also surged 7 percent to NT$7.81.
Local fund managers bought paper and pulp stocks on expectations that these companies will report revenue growth in the China market, dealers said.
On the Taipei foreign exchange market, the New Taiwan dollar weakened yesterday in line with losses in the Japanese yen.
The New Taiwan dollar closed NT$0.044 lower at NT$33.174 against the US dollar on turnover of US$122 million.
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