Taiwan Stock Market May Erase Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 170 points or 1.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,810-point plateau although it's tipped to rebound on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher, ahead of closely watched employment data from the U.S. later today. The European and U.S. bourses saw mild upside and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology and plastic stocks were offset by support from the financials and cement companies.

For the day, the index sank 57.29 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 15,810.77 after trading between 15,733.29 and 15,838.07.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial added 0.48 percent, while CTBC Financial sank 0.69 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.53 percent, First Financial gained 0.57 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.59 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.56 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dipped 0.19 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.48 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.15 percent, Catcher Technology surrendered 1.84 percent, MediaTek plunged 4.32 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 2.16 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 0.93 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 0.44 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slid 0.26 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement perked 0.14 percent and Mega Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness to move higher and end in the green.

The Dow perked 2.57 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 33,485.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 91.09 points or 0.76 percent to end at 12,087.96 and the S&P 500 rose 14.64 added 14.64 points or 0.36 percent to close at 4,105.02.

The markets are closed on Good Friday; for the holiday-shortened week, the Dow climbed by 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ slumped 1.1 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about the economic outlook following disappointing data. The Labor Department noted a drop in initial jobless claims last week.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched employment report later today.

Crude oil futures settled slightly higher Thursday and posted gains for a third straight week, buoyed by OPEC's decision to cut production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.09 at $80.70 a barrel. WTI crude rose gained more than 6 percent this week.