Taiwan Stock Market Likely To Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 760 points or 6.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 13,530-point plateau although it's predicted to turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on growing fears of a recession and rising interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index added 68.19 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 13,534.26 after trading between 13,462.57 and 13,651.29.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 0.88 percent, while Mega Financial and Novatek Microelectronics both lost 0.47 percent, CTBC Financial dipped 0.25 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.40 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.68 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation advanced 0.97 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.00 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.59 percent, MediaTek fell 0.37 percent, Delta Electronics rose 0.20 percent, Formosa Plastics strengthened 1.06 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 0.92 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.38 percent, Taiwan Cement tumbled 2.15 percent and Largan Precision, First Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deeply in the red, although they closed off of sessions lows.

The Dow tumbled 458.13 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 29,225.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 314.13 points or 2.84 percent to close at 10,737.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.57 points or 2.11 percent to end at 3,640.47.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains, as the buying interest generated by the Bank of England's bond market intervention quickly evaporated. The moves by the BoE contributed to a pullback by bond yields and the U.S. dollar, inspiring traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. But bond yields moved back to the upside, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note partly offsetting Wednesday's 25.9 basis point plunge.

A Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to a five-month low last week also weighed on the markets. While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, traders may view the data as giving the Federal Reserve confidence that it can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.

Adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street, data from Freddie Mac showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent in the week ending September 29th, up from 6.29 percent the week before.

Crude oil prices fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing lower on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amidst a possible global recession. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid $0.92 or 1.1 percent to $81.23 per barrel.