Taiwan Stock Market My Erase Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 400 points or 1.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,360-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the U.S. and the European Union ratified a trade agreement over the weekend. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished barely lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial and plastics companies.

For the day, the index eased 9.32 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 23,364.38 after trading between 23,308.45 and 23,485.56.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.23 percent, First Financial collected 0.17 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 0.91 percent, Hon Hai Precision rose 0.29 percent, Largan Precision stumbled 1.67 percent, Delta Electronics eased 0.19 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.60 percent, Formosa Plastics dipped 0.13 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 3.86 percent, Asia Cement added 0.62 percent and Catcher Technology, MediaTek, United Microelectronics Corporation, CTBC Financial, Fubon Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and tracked mostly higher throughout the session, sending the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 208.02 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 44,901.92, while the NASDAQ added 50.32 points or 0.24 percent to close at 21,108.32 and the S&P 500 gained 25.29 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,388.64.

The strength on Wall Street came on optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline for the extension of his "reciprocal tariffs."

With only a few days left, several trading partners are trying to reach an agreement with the U.S. to avoid high tariff imposition on their exports to the U.S. from August 1; the U.S. and the EU have since reached an agreement over the weekend.

Crude oil fell on Friday on reports that the U.S. might allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to resume operations, sparking concerns of over-supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery closed, down $0.88 or 1.33 percent to $65.15 per barrel.