Taiwan Stock Market May Head South Again 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 rallied almost 660 points or 2.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 31,400-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Monday.

The global forecast is soft amidst ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates and ongoing geopolitical issues. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index rallied 598.12 points or 1.94 percent to finish at 31,408.70 after trading between 30,844.63 and 31,475.22.

Among the actives, Mega Financial and E Sun Financial both collected 0.62 percent, while Fubon Financial increased 0.96 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.96 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surged 6.95 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.43 percent, Largan Precision improved 1.04 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.01 percent, Delta Electronics skyrocketed 7.66 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.40 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.94 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 5.88 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.14 percent and Catcher Technology, Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and First Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly faded, hugging both sides of the line before ending slightly lower.

The Dow shed 83.07 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 49,359.33, while the NASDAQ slipped 14.61 points or 0.06 percent to close at 23,515.39 and the S&P 500 fell 4.46 points or 0.06 percent to end at 6,940.01. For the week, the NASDAQ slid 0.7 percent, the S&P dipped 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.03 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed remarks from President Donald Trump suggesting National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett may not be his choice to become the next Federal Reserve chair.

Hassett had been seen as the frontrunner to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May, but predictions now show former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh has surged into the lead following Trump's remarks - causing some uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

Trump's threats to take control of Greenland continue to attract attention, with the president suggesting he may impose tariffs on countries that don't go along with his plans for the territory.

Crude oil moved higher on Friday as traders weighed the continuing risks after reports that the U.S. is consolidating its forces in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.40 or 0.68 percent at $59.59 per barrel.