Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/23
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan spiked Thursday to its highest level in seven and a half years, as buying rotated to the financial sector amid hopes that Taipei and Shanghai will launch a platform to trade stocks on both exchanges, dealers said.

The buying was focused on financial holding companies that have big securities business operations, since investors and securities were optimistic that they would benefit from such trade liberalization, dealers said.

The bellwether electronics sector extended its gains from the previous session, led by semiconductor stocks, as investors here were encouraged by the 1.37 percent gain by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index overnight, dealers said.     [FULL  STORY]