Higher Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,450 points or 5.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 25,580-point plateau although it's expected to move back into the green again on Monday.

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

The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the plastics companies were strong.

For the day, the index stumbled 191.03 points or 0.74 percent to finish at the daily low of 256,578.37 after peaking at 25,864.01.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.72 percent, while First Financial rose 0.34 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.60 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.56 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 3.47 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.47 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.08 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.27 percent, MediaTek plummeted 4.64 percent, Delta Electronics fell 0.45 percent, Novatek Microelectronics spiked 2.28 percent, Formosa Plastics accelerated 2.81 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 6.37 percent, Asia Cement improved 1.11 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see August data for unemployment later today; in July, the jobless rate was 3.33 percent.