Taipei - Taiwan stocks ended 2.63 per cent higher on strong financial gains on Friday, despite Wall street's overnight fall, dealers said.

The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange opened flat as sentiment was dampened by Wall Street's sharp overnight fall, but started picking up by the mid-morning session and continued its upward trend to close at 7,209.04, up 184.46 points or 2.63 per cent.

Dealers said strong gains in the financial sector were one reason for the sharp rise in the local index.

They said investors hunted for bargains, buying strongly in the electronics sector, as they perceived shiny sales records in the third quarter.

Traders said a global rebound of the US dollar and outflow of foreign funds forced the Taiwan dollar to go down, allowing the local electronics industry to be more competitive in prices.

All eight major sectors rose, with the financial sub-index advancing 3.6 per cent to become the day's biggest winner, followed by electronics' 3 per cent and construction's 2.6 per cent. (dpa)