Taiwan Stock Market Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 300 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 30,290-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index sank 71.59 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 30,288.96 after trading between 29,925.49 and 30,500.42.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.49 percent, CTBC Financial improved 0.71 percent, First Financial perked 0.17 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial was up 0.15 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.30 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 4.36 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.44 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.22 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.73 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.73 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.50 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.30 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 1.68 percent, Nan Ya Plastics plummeted 7.61 percent and Asia Cement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 237.96 points or 0.48 percent to finish at a record 49,504.07, while the NASDAQ rallied 191.33 points or 0.81 percent to end at 23,671.35 and the S&P 500 added 44.82 points or 0.65 percent to close at 6,966.28, also a record.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.3 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 1.9 percent and the S&P climbed 1.6 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department's closely watched report on employment in December. With the report showing employment increased less than expected in December, the data has led to optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the report has increased confidence in further rate cuts later this year.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday amid near-term supply concerns due to ongoing geopolitical tensions, a decline in U.S. inventories, and OPEC's decision to pause output increases. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $1.58 or 2.74 percent at $59.34 per barrel.