Taiwan Stock Market Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the break for Children's Day and the Qingming Festival, the Taiwan stock market had finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 170 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,870-point plateau although it's tipped to open under pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower amid waning momentum and a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses are expected to open to the downside.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the cement companies, weakness from the plastics and mixed performances from the financials and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 18.66 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 15,868.06 after trading between 15,857.19 and 15,951.80.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.48 percent, while Mega Financial and CTBC Financial both advanced 0.92 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.53 percent, First Financial was up 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial improved 1.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.37 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation strengthened 1.54 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.48 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.14 percent, Catcher Technology perked 0.26 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.16 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.86 percent, Novatek Microelectronics soared 3.98 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 0.65 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.64 percent, China Steel was down 0.32 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.23 percent and Taiwan Cement added 0.55 percent.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be inconsistent as the NASDAQ and S&P opened under pressure on Wednesday and remained that way throughout, while the Dow stayed mostly positive.

The Dow gained 80.34 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 33,482.72, while the NASDAQ tumbled 129.47 points or 1,07 percent to end at 11,996.86 and the S&P 500 sank 10.22 points or 0.25 percent to close at 4,090.38.

The uptick by the Dow was partly due to a strong gain by shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), with the healthcare giant surging by 4.5 percent after the company announced it has agreed to pay $8.9 billion over 25 years to settle outstanding claims.

Meanwhile, concerns about the economic outlook weighed on the NASDAQ and the S&P following the release of disappointing data.

Payroll processor ADP said that private sector employment increased less than expected in March. And the Institute for Supply Management said growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed much more than expected last month.

Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday as worries about economic slowdown outweighed data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.10 at $80.61 a barrel.