Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had given up almost 1,700 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 46,250-point plateau although it may open under pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on continuing tensions in the Middle East and weak economic data. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed to lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index climbed 211.66 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 46,255.26 after trading between 46,048.70 and 46,785.45.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial vaulted 1.36 percent, while Mega Financial soared 4.71 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 1.00 percent, First Financial rallied 2.50 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.12 percent, E Sun Financial strengthened 1.29 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.28 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.59 percent, Largan Precision surged 5.41 percent, Catcher Technology plunged 2.38 percent, MediaTek gained 0.58 percent, Delta Electronics skidded 1.00 percent, Novatek Microelectronics accelerated 3.31 percent, Formosa Plastics skyrocketed 6.42 percent, Nan Ya Plastics sank 0.64 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.28 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but spent most of the day bouncing back and forth across the line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow added 71.72 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 51,920.62, while the NASDAQ slumped 118.03 points or 0.46 percent to end at 25,358.60 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.73 points or 0.01 percent to close at 7,357.49.

The aimless trade came as investors digested a slew of economic data and some corporate news, including earnings update from Micron Technology - which rallied on stronger-than-expected earnings and an upward revision in revenue forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department showed the core PCE price index - which is the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of underlying inflation - moved further above the Federal Reserve's percent target. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders dropped more than expected, while jobless claims were down from a week earlier and GDP slowed in the first quarter.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the Middle East as tensions along the Strait of Hormuz persist.

Crude oil prices jumped on Thursday as supply disruption threats reappeared after a projectile hit a cargo ship near Oman across the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $1.49 or 2.12 percent at $71.83 per barrel.