Taiwan Bourse May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 850 points or 2.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 27,300-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the European markets is cautiously optimistic on easing economic tensions between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Friday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and financial shares.

For the day, the index tumbled 345.53 points or 1.25 percent to finish at the daily low of 27,302.37 after peaking at 27,513.09.

Among the actives, Mega Financial sank 0.72 percent, while First Financial skidded 1.02 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.46 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.36 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.89 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.57 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.56 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.85 percent, Delta Electronics stumbled 2.54 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.22 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 3.87 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 1.21 percent, Asia Cement advanced 0.96 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday and hugged the line before rallying midday to finish solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 238.41 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 46,190.61, while the NASDAQ climbed 117.47 points or 0.52 percent to end at 22,679.97 and the S&P 500 added 34.94 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,664.01.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as the concerns about bad loans that dragged the markets lower on Thursday seemed to evaporate as quickly as they materialized.

Stocks also benefited from easing concerns about the trade dispute between the U.S. and China following comments from President Donald Trump, who admitted that the high tariffs he threatened to impose on China are probably not sustainable.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday after Trump suddenly reversed his hardline stance on China, suggesting warmer trade relations could lead to an increase in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up by $0.20 or 0.35 percent at $57.66 per barrel.