Taiwan Stock Market Due For Profit Taking On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, rallying more than 600 points 4.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 13,890-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. employment data, which will affect the outlook for interest rates and the likelihood of recession. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials, technology stocks and cement companies were dented by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index added 90.62 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 13,892.05 after trading between 13,814.33 and 13,899.23.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rose 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial climbed 1.62 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.49 percent, Fubon Financial increased 0.20 percent, First Financial advanced 1.38 percent, E Sun Financial gathered 0.79 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.70 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.47 percent, Largan Precision surged 5.16 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 2.35 percent, MediaTek tumbled 2.00 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 3.34 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.82 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skidded 1.02 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.88 percent and Taiwan Cement improved 0.44 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly turned well into the red and remained that way for the rest of the session.

The Dow dropped 346.93 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 29,926.94, while the NASDAQ sank 75.33 points or 0.68 percent to end at 11,073.31 and the S&P 500 declined 38.76 points or 1.02 percent to close at 3,744.52.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to express concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the impact higher rates will have on the economy.

A continued rebound by treasury yields also weighed on the markets, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note extending the sharp upward move seen on Wednesday.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report later today.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, rising for a fourth straight session after OPEC announced on Wednesday that it would cut production by 2 million barrels per day from November, while a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.69 or 0.8 percent at $88.45 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release September numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to rise 7.0 percent on year, up from 3.5 percent in August. Exports are called higher by an annual 1.5 percent, easing from 2.0 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $4.23 billion, up from $2.99 billion a month earlier.