Taiwan Bourse Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday halted the four-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 550 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,815-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on inflation worries and geopolitical concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and plastics were offset by support from the technology and cement companies.

For the day, the index slumped 43.33 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 16,782.57 after trading between 16,726.43 and 16,815.91.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial tumbled 1.84 percent, while Mega Financial slumped 1.16 percent, CTBC Financial eased 0.20 percent, First Financial skidded 1.11 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 1.30 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.40 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.55 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 0.47 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.16 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.54 percent, MediaTek soared 3.31 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 2.23 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 1.04 percent, Formosa Plastics dipped 0.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surrendered 2.07 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.12 percent, Taiwan Cement rose 0.30 percent and China Steel and United Microelectronics Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly headed south, although the Dow was able to recover before the close.

The Dow added 39.15 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,670.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.99 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,407.23 and the S&P 500 slumped 21.83 points or 0.50 percent to close at 4,327.78.

For the week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and S&P rose 0.5 percent.

Selling pressure emerged following the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing a slump in consumer sentiment and a surge in inflation expectations. The data generated some negative sentiment, although a decrease in treasury yields helped to limit the downside.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid rising concerns about the potential impact on global crude supplies due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November spiked $4.78 or 5.8 percent at $87.69 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 6 percent in the week.