Taiwan Shares May Open Under Pressure On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 240 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 16,630-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, plastics and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 85.31 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 16,634.51 after trading between 16,630.67 and 16,712.22.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company both skidded 1.08 percent, while Mega Financial declined 1.51 percent, CTBC Financial fell 0.21 percent, First Financial stumbled 1.50 percent, Fubon Financial surrendered 1.40 percent, E Sun Financial slumped 1.41 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.94 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.47 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.20 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.98 percent, MediaTek shed 0.56 percent, Delta Electronics eased 0.14 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gained 0.63 percent, Formosa Plastics lost 1.00 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 1.93 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.75 percent, Taiwan Cement dropped 0.99 percent and China Steel dipped 0.19 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded as the day progressed, ending on opposite side of the unchanged line.

The Dow sank 168.33 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 34,721.91, while the NASDAQ added 15.66 points or 0.11 percent to close at 14,034.97 and the S&P 500 eased 7.21 points or 0.16 percent to end at 4,507.66.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a Commerce Department report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. accelerated in line with forecasts in July.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched jobs report later today.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Thursday, advancing for the sixth consecutive session following another steep drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate for October delivery surged $2 or 2.5 percent to $83.63 a barrel, a three-week closing high.