Taiwan Shares Tipped To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, rallying more than 720 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,750-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Monday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the prospects for an interest rate cut this week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and plastic stocks, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 106.45 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 21,759.65 after trading between 21,643.22 and 21,796.39.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial added 0.48 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.38 percent, CTBC Financial rallied 1.25 percent, First Financial shed 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.05 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 0.74 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.09 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.85 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.21 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.60 percent, Delta Electronics slumped 1.03 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 4.33 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 3.47 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.45 percent and Largan Precision was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and largely remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow rallied 296.98 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 41,393.78, while the NASDAQ jumped 114.28 points or 0.65 percent to end at 17,683.98 and the S&P 500 gained 30.26 points or 0.54 percent to close at 5,626.02.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 6.0 percent, the S&P spiked 4.0 percent and the Dow improved 2.6 percent.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week. The Fed is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday and is almost universally expected to lower interest rates by at least 25 basis points.

Adding to the positive sentiment on Wall Street, the University of Michigan released a report showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. has improved by more than anticipated in September.

Oil futures drifted lower on Friday on reports crude oil production resumed in several facilities along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $0.32 or 0.46 percent at $68.65 a barrel.