Loan announcement fuels bank stocks

Taiwan stocks rose, led by Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控) and other banks, after the government said it may subsidize home loans, boosting hopes of a property-market rebound.

The TAIEX rose 61.73, or 1 percent, to 6,257.73. Within the index, 344 stocks rose and 161 fell. The total value of trade was NT$107 billion (US$3.1 billion), about a tenth below the six-month daily average of NT$117 billion.

The TWSE Bank/Insurance Index has gained 29 percent in the past five months, lagging a 41 percent gain in the main index.

"Finance stocks lagged the rise in other sectors," said Steven Chu, who manages funds for private clients at ING CHB Securities & Investment Trust (喬治亞彰銀投信). "Banks will benefit from an economic recovery, though over-banking and other problems have yet to be resolved."

Hua Nan Financial increased NT$0.90, or 4.5 percent, to NT$20.90.

Benq Corp (明電) rose NT$1.50, or 1.8 percent, to NT$83.50. Tai-wan's largest mobile-phone maker agreed to develop DVD-RW drives for computers with Royal Philips Electronics NV.

First Commercial Bank (第銀行) rose NT$1.70, or 6.8 percent, to NT$26.60 after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co added Taiwan's largest publicly traded lender by assets to its "model portfolio."

HannStar Display Corp (瀚羽彩晶) gained NT$1.70, or 5 percent, to NT$36. It forecast the price of 15-inch flat screens used in notebooks will rise at least 5 percent in May from this month to US$305, the Commercial Times reported.

ProMos Technologies Inc (茂德科技) fell NT$0.30, or 1 percent, to NT$30.50. The venture between Mosel Vitelic Inc (台灣茂矽) and Infineon Technologies AG forecast a profit of NT$5 billion this year, compared with a NT$6 billion loss last year.