Taiwan's share prices closed higher Friday, with the weighted index, the market's key barometer, increasing 43.48 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 8,280.90. The local bourse opened at 8,222.42 and traded between 8,369.55 and 8,143,45 during the session. A total of 5.76 billion shares changed hands on market turnover of NT$159.99 billion (US$5.02 billion). All the eight major stock categories gained ground, with construction shares moving up the most at 2.6 percent. Paper and pulp issues gained 1.1 percent, textile stocks advanced 1 percent, and banking and financial shares rose 0.9 percent. Cement shares gained 0.7 percent, machinery and electronics stocks advanced 0.3 percent, and both foodstuff shares and plastics and chemicals stocks grew 0.2 percent. Gainers outnumbered losers 1,641 to 1,493, with 233 stocks remaining unchanged. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of NT$7.46 billion in shares. 