Tech Shares Expected To Fuel Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 630 points or 4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 16,100-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 176.59 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 16,101.88 after trading between 16,015.62 and 16,128.72.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 1.02 percent, while Mega Financial advanced 0.98 percent, CTBC Financial improved 1.26 percent, First Financial rose 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial gathered 1.50 percent, E Sun Financial was up 0.39 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.12 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.49 percent, Largan Precision strengthened 1.61 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.07 percent, MediaTek gained 0.58 percent, Delta Electronics increased 0.49 percent, Novatek Microelectronics spiked 1.75 percent, Nan Ya Plastics picked up 0.38 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.11 percent, Taiwan Cement eased 0.13 percent, China Steel perked 0.34 percent and Formosa Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off a flat open on Thursday, bounced up and down throughout the session before ending firmly higher.

The Dow climbed 115.14 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 33,535.91, while the NASDAQ surged 188.27 points or 1.51 percent to end at 12,688.84 and the S&P 500 added 39.28 points or 0.94 percent to close at 4,198.05.

Optimism lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street.

Following a meeting earlier in the week, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., both expressed optimism a deal will be reached.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. The National Association of Realtors also released a report unexpectedly showing a steep drop in U.S. existing home sales in April.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after recent data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a strong dollar weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.97 or 1.3 percent at $71.86 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release Q1 numbers for its current account later today; in the previous three months, the current account surplus was $23.39 billion.