Taiwan's TSMC posts Q2 net profit of T$24.4 bln

TAIPEI, July 30 (Reuters) - TSMC (2330.TW), the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported its largest profit in three quarters on Thursday, beating analysts' expectations and raising further hopes the worst may now be over for the tech sector.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) said it made a net profit of T$24.44 billion ($743 million) in the April-June quarter, better than market expectations of a T$23.3 billion profit, but down 15 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Sales of chips used in personal computers, mobile phones and other tech buys have picked up in recent months, partly due to back-to-school demand and China's massive stimulus package meant to boost consumer spending on electronic gadgets.

This has benefitted TSMC and its smaller rivals UMC (2303.TW) and Chartered Semiconductor CSMF.SI, which both reported results that came in better than market expectations.

The results were announced just before Taiwan's stock market closed. TSMC ended down 0.88 percent, while the main board fell 0.8 percent.

(Reporting by Argin Chang; Editing by Valerie Lee and Ken Wills)