Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Taiwan’s share prices opened high and closed even higher Thursday on hopes that Taiwan and China will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on financial supervisory cooperation and will hold talks in the second half of this year on an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

The weighted index, the market’s key barometer, rose 77.53 points, or 1.21 percent, to close at 6,457.61.

Finishing higher for the second consecutive day, the local bourse opened at 6,427.88 and fluctuated between 6,497.38 and 6,404.38.

A total of 4.86 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$120.75 billion (US$3.66 billion).

All eight major stock categories gained ground, with textile stocks moving up the most 3.6 percent. Cement shares surged 3.5 percent, paper and pulp issues rose 3.1 percent, foodstuff stocks gained 1.4 percent, banking and financial shares added 1.2 percent, machinery and electronics issues advanced 1.1 percent, construction issues were up 0.8 percent, and plastics and chemicals shares gained 0.5 percent.

Gainers outnumbered losers 1,523 to 727, with 142 stocks remaining unchanged.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of NT$9.36 billion in shares.

Shares in some of the assets, construction, and cement sectors on the market continued their second-day rally on news two days earlier that the Ministry of the Interior had approved an upgrade of Taipei County’s status and mergers of Taichung city and county as well as Kaohsiung city and county.

An analyst at Mega International Investment Trust Co. said that the market is likely to surge in September, after the signing of the financial MOU with China, and will reach a new high in the fourth quarter. (By Y.L. Kao)