Taiwan Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, dropping more than 360 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 16,850-point plateau and it's looking at another rough start on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after inconsistent U.S. employment data. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financials and technology stocks were offset by gains from the plastic and cement companies.

For the day, the index sank 35.22 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 16,843.68 after trading between 16,748.51 and 16,887.38.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.22 percent, while CTBC Financial tanked 2.19 percent, First Financial slid 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.46 percent, E Sun Financial was down 0.39 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.25 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.32 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 2.78 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.69 percent, MediaTek shed 0.42 percent, Delta Electronics perked 0.14 percent, Novatek Microelectronics declined 1.62 percent, Formosa Plastics gained 0.60 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rose 0.43 percent, Asia Cement rallied 2.01 percent, Taiwan Cement added 0.40 percent, China Steel climbed 1.07 percent and Catcher Technology and Mega Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Friday and spent most of the day in the green before late selling pressure saw them finish slightly under water.

The Dow dropped 150.28 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 35,0.65.62, while the NASDAQ lost 50.46 points or 0.36 percent to close at 13,909.24 and the S&P 500 sank 23.86 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,478.03.

For the week, the Dow slumped 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.3 percent and the NASDAQ plunged 2.9 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing that employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in July, although the jobless rate surprisingly ticked lower.

Following the mixed report, most economists still expect another pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve next month, although the data has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for rates beyond that.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending recent gains amid tightening supply issues after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to cut output through next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.27 at $82.82 a barrel.