Taiwan Investors May Lock In Gains On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, advancing almost 3,000 points or 7 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 41,930-point plateau although it's ripe for consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected amid continued uncertainty over the conflict in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the finance and technology companies.

For the day, the index spiked 794.88 points or 1.93 percent to finish at 41,933.78 after trading between 41,259.96 and 42,156.06.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.49 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.25 percent, CTBC Financial rallied 2.74 percent, First Financial climbed 1.22 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.83 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.78 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 2.67 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 5.58 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 0.60 percent, Largan Precision vaulted 2.18 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.67 percent, MediaTek dipped 0.29 percent, Delta Electronics accelerated 3.17 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 2.60 percent, Formosa Plastics tanked 2.27 percent, Nan Ya Plastics crashed 3.73 percent and Asia Cement sank 0.71 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but gradually tracked into the red and finished under water.

The Dow dropped 313.62 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 49,596.97, while the NASDAQ dipped 32.75 points or 0.13 percent to close at 25,806.20 and the S&P 500 sank 28.01 points or 0.38 percent to end at 7,337.11.

Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the day as traders remain optimistic about a peaceful end to the conflict in the Middle East but may want to see more tangible results from U.S.-Iran negotiations before making big bets.

But selling pressure picked as crude oil prices saw a substantial turnaround over the course of the day, with U.S. crude oil futures jumping by more than 1 percent following reports that Iran is attempting to force shippers to comply with a new protocol for transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices had moved lower as Iran reviews a peace plan offered by the U.S. to end the gulf war but bounced higher again on supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was at $94.76 per barrel.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded by less than expected in the week ended May 2.

Closer to home, Taiwan will on Friday release April figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In March, imports were up 38.3 percent on year and exports jumped an annual 61.8 percent for a trade surplus of $21.27 billion.