Taiwan Stock Market Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked lower on back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 240 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 14,085-point plateau although it figures to stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the oversold Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting on the docket as window dressing before the end of the year. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, plastics, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index lost 88.08 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 14,085.02 after trading between 13,981.63 and 14,120.57.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 1.35 percent, while Mega Financial lost 0.82 percent, CTBC Financial declined 1.13 percent, Fubon Financial stumbled 1.23 percent, First Financial slid 0.57 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.21 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.11 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation eased 0.12 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.80 percent, Largan Precision plunged 2.84 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.41 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics soared 2.75 percent, Formosa Plastics weakened 0.92 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 1.40 percent, Asia Cement dropped 0.85 percent, Taiwan Cement tumbled 1.75 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and remained firmly elevated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 345.09 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,220.80, while the NASDAQ spiked 264.80 points or 2.59 percent to end at 10,478.09 and the S&P 500 advanced 66.06 points or 1.75 percent to close at 3,849.28.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, particularly among tech stocks, which moved sharply lower over the two preceding sessions.

Overall trading activity remained subdued amid the holidays, however, with below average volume potentially exaggerating recent moves.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended December 24.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, although a weak dollar limited oil's downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.56 at $78.40 a barrel.