Taipei shares close higher on Wall St rally, local currency fall - UPDATE

TAIPEI (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed higher following Wall Street's strong showing Friday as a surge in the US dollar and further declines in oil prices outweighed worries about losses at mortgage finance company Fannie Mae, dealers said. The bellwether technology stocks led the market higher as the extended weakness of the Taiwan dollar was seen making local electronics exporters more competitive. Increased foreign investor interest in the previous session also improved sentiment toward the broad market today, they said. The weighted index closed up 116.58 points or 1.62 pct at 7,325.62, after trading in a range of 7,278.90 to 7,357.69. Turnover was 135.38 bln twd. The electronics sectoral subindex was up 2.14 pct. The Taiwan dollar ended the morning session at 31.176 to the US dollar, compared with the previous close of... [read full story]