Taipei - Taiwan stocks surged nearly 4 per cent Monday in a post-election rally and as investors expect Taiwan to fully open trade with China. When the bourse opened at 9 am, the benchmark index TAIEX soared to 9,049.23 points, up 524 points, or 6.1 per cent, from last Friday.
But it closed in the afternoon at 8,865.35, up 340.36 points, or 3.9 9 per cent, from the last trading day on March 21.
On Saturday, Taiwan opposition pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) headed by Ma Ying-jeou scored a landslide victory in the presidential election, bringing the KMT back to power for the first time since it suffered an election defeat in 2000.
Ma has vowed to fully open trade as well as sea and air links with China as soon as possible, to avoid the Taiwan economy's being marginalized. Ma will be inaugurated on May 20.
All China-related industries - tourism, aviation, shipping, services, electronics - are pinning hopes on Ma to honour his campaign promises and revive Taiwan's economy.
