Taiwan Shares Called Rangebound Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 950 points or 3.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 28,020-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism over earnings news, although weakness from the technology and oil companies may limit the upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly in the green and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks, cement shares and plastics companies, while the financial sector was mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 375.98 points or 1.32 percent to finish at 28,024.75 after trading between 27,984.19 and 28,568.02.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.02 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.62 percent, First Financial advanced 0.89 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.11 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.78 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 2.33 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation declined 1.42 percent, Hon Hai Precision crashed 3.21 percent, Largan Precision dipped 0.24 percent, Catcher Technology cratered 2.58 percent, MediaTek plunged 4.45 percent, Delta Electronics stumbled 2.38 percent, Novatek Microelectronics retreated 1.31 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.13 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 2.44 percent, Asia Cement contracted 1.29 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily higher as the day progressed.

The Dow jumped 646.26 points or 1.34 percent to finish at a record 48,704.01, while the NASDAQ dipped 60.30 points or 0.25 percent to close at 23,593.86 and the &P 500 rose 14.32 points or 0.21 percent to end at 6,901.00.

The surge by the Dow reflected a spike by shares of Visa (V) after Bank of American upgraded its rating on the stock to Buy from Neutral. Strong gains by Nike (NKE), UnitedHealth (UNH) and American Express (AXP) also contributed to the jump by the blue chip index.

On the other hand shares of Oracle (ORCL) weighed on the NASDAQ after the company reported fiscal Q2 earnings that beat estimates but on weaker than expected revenues - reflecting renewed valuation concerns.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday on oversupply concerns even as OPEC prepares to pause output hikes in early 2026. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.88 or 1.51 percent at $57.58 per barrel.