TAIPEI: Taiwan stocks rose on Wednesday after a dismal reading of the island’s export orders was offset by strength in plastics and food.
A worse-than-expected 5.9 percent on-year decline in May export orders was the biggest drop in over two years and cast doubts over whether global tech demand will pick up in the second half of the year.
As of 1:51 GMT, the main TAIEX index rose 0.1 percent, to 9,401.40, after closing at 9,391.14 in the previous session, up 0.53 percent.
Among the major gainers, plastics gained 0.71 percent, while food saw a 0.47 percent rise.
The financials subindex lost 0.2 percent, while the electronics subindex rose only 0.1 percent, held back by semiconductors, down 0.34 percent.
The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.041 to T$30.961 per U.S. dollar.
