Taiwan markets rally as opposition wins presidency

By Baker Li

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's stocks jumped 4 percent and its currency hit a decade high on Monday, as investors hoped for better trade ties and less political tension with China after the opposition's resounding win in the presidential election.

The stock market's main TAIEX share index ended with a gain of 340.36 points, to 8,865.35, after soaring 6.15 percent at the open -- its biggest intra-day percentage gain in more than seven years.

Some analysts predicted the stock market would punch through the 9,000 point mark after the victory by Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou, who favors closer trade ties and political dialogue with China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan its own territory.

Foreign investors were big buyers of Taiwan stocks on Monday, accumulating a total T$57.91 billion ($1.92 billion) worth of Taiwan shares, their second-biggest daily buying in history.

The Taiwan dollar also jumped, ending at a 10-1/2 year closing high of T$30.229 against the U.S. dollar, with daily trading volume hitting a record. The Taiwan dollar is up nearly 7 percent so far this year.

"The market is really hot today and it's been very lively on the trading floor, as investors called in to buy into traditional and financial stocks," said Winston Tung, a branch manager at Fubon Financial's brokerage department, where the trading floor buzzed with chatter, laughter and phones ringing off the hook.

"Last week, people were still afraid to buy in case something bad happened during the election, but since everything went smoothly, funds are flowing back quickly into the market."

The quote boards at banks' brokerage rooms throughout the island were awash in a sea of red -- the color used for stocks that are up. Among the market's 2,000-plus listed companies, 1,974 ended up while only 307 were down.