Share prices on the Taiwan Stock Exchange opened high and closed higher Monday, with the weighted index, the market's key barometer, moving up 40.8 points to close at 6,611.9, according to information reaching Hong Kong from Taipei.

The bourse opened at 6,588.47 and fluctuated between 6,634.73 and 6,587.36 during trading. A total of 2.63 billion shares changed hands on a market turnover of 68.64 billion new Taiwan dollars (2.09 billion U.S. dollars).

Seven of the eight major stock categories gained ground, with cement stocks moving up the most at 1.4 percent, followed by construction issues at 1 percent, machinery and electronics shares at 0.9 percent, textile stocks at 0.7 percent, and foodstuff

issues, paper and pulp issues and banking and financial shares all at 0.3 percent.

The one other major stock category lost ground, with plastics and chemicals shares moving down at 0.1 percent.

Gainers outnumbered losers 586 to 381, with 173 stocks remaining unchanged.

Source: Xinhua