Taiwan Stock Market Likely To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four three trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 760 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 23,400-point plateau and it may see additional support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the green and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and plastics companies, while the technology stocks were also largely in the green.

For the day, the index advanced 109.66 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 23.399.41 after trading between 23,206.45 and 23,413.10.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.33 percent, while Mega Financial perked 0.13 percent, First Financial rose 0.18 percent, E Sun Financial advanced 0.86 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.91 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 3.24 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.69 percent, Largan Precision added 0.37 percent, Catcher Technology gathered 0.25 percent, MediaTek rallied 2.36 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.00 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.73 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 5.05 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 5.65 percent, Asia Cement spiked 3.12 percent and CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but only continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 342.87 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,711.43, while the NASDAQ surged 295.69 points or 1.50 percent to close at 19,945.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 63.10 points or 1.04 percent to end at 6,115.07.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released its report on producer price inflation in January. While the headline number rose by more than expected, components of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading were relatively tame.

The data helped to ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates after Wednesday's consumer price numbers came in hitter than expected.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected last week.