Additional Support Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, gathering almost 190 points or 1.1 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,650-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastic and cement companies.

For the day, the index climbed 184.18 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 17,653.11 after trading between 17,482.38 and 17,668.35.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rallied 2.68 percent, while Mega Financial jumped 1.67 percent, CTBC Financial spiked 1.79 percent, First Financial collected 0.73 percent, Fubon Financial soared 3.66 percent, E Sun Financial increased 1.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.39 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.40 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.99 percent, Largan Precision skyrocketed 6.32 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.15 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.83 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 1.14 percent, Nan Ya Plastics accelerated 1.80 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.12 percent, Taiwan Cement gathered 1.03 percent, China Steel picked up 0.99 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded again to end in the green.

The Dow climbed 158.11 points or 0.43 percent to finish at a fresh record closing high of 37,248.35, while the NASDAQ gained 27.59 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,761.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.46 points or 0.26 percent to end at 4,719.55.

Stocks continued to benefit from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and signaled plans to cut interest rates three times next year.

Adding to optimism the economy is headed toward a soft landing, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales in November. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week.

Oil prices surged on Thursday for the second straight day, lifted by a weak dollar and an upward revision in global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas International Crude oil futures for January spiked $2.11 or 3 percent at $71.58 a barrel.