Taiwan Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,125 points or 3 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange sits just above the 38,930-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on easing oil prices and support from technology shares. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and plastics companies.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 1,218.25 points or 3.23 percent to finish at 38,932.40 after trading between 37,862.65 and 38,989.94.

Among the actives, Mega Financial lost 0.63 percent, while CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial collected 0.53 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.57 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.31 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company surged 5.05 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation expanded 1.22 percent, Hon Hai Precision slumped 1.56 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.41 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 3.46 percent, MediaTek skyrocketed 9.93 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 4.80 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 2.96 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 1.57 percent, Nan Ya Plastics added 0.82 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.42 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the Dow opened lower and finished the same way, while the NASDAQ and S&P began in the green and picked up steam as the day progressed.

The Dow shed 79.59 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 49,230.71, while the NASDAQ surged 398.10 points or 1.63 percent to end at 24,836.60 and the S&P 500 gained 56.68 points or 0.80 percent to close at 7,165.08.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.4 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 1.5 percent and the S&P added 0.6 percent.

The rebound by the broader markets came amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC) after the chipmaker reported much better than expected first quarter earnings and forecast Q2 revenues above estimates.

Buying interest was also generated in reaction to a pullback by the price of crude oil, which has soared over the past few sessions. President Donald Trump's announcement of a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has also weighed on crude oil prices.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday as the prospects of a peace deal between U.S. and Iran gather steam, lowering Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $1.68 or 1.75 percent at $94.17 per barrel.