Taiwan Stock Market Tipped To Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 380 points or 2.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,225-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and oil companies expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, losses from the cement stocks and a mixed bag from the technology shares.

For the day, the index gained 66.00 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 17,227.79 after trading between 17,169.10 and 17,300.29.

Among the actives, Mega Financial jumped 1.34 percent, while CTBC Financial climbed 1.09 percent, First Financial collected 0.38 percent, E Sun Financial dipped 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 1.20 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.03 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.32 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.20 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.05 percent, Delta Electronics dropped 0.89 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 0.39 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.97 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.13 percent, Taiwan Cement shed 0.47 percent and China Steel, Catcher Technology, Cathay Financial, Fubon Financial and Nan Ya Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but all ended up firmly in the green by the day's end.

The Dow advanced 201.94 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 37,468.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.03 points or 1.35 percent to close at 15,055.65 and the S&P 500 gained 41.73 points or 0.88 percent to end at 4,780.94.

The rebound on Wall Street came despite a continued increase by treasury yields, which moved higher after the Labor Department noted an unexpected weekly decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.

Tech stocks helped lead the way higher on Wall Street, with shares of Apple (AAPL) jumping 3.3 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

A rally by semiconductor stocks also contributed to the surge by the NASDAQ as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 3.4 percent. Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also showed notable moves to the upside.

Oil prices climbed higher Thursday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and on higher forecasts for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rallied $1.52 at $74.08 a barrel.