Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 330 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,600-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the cement and plastics sectors were soft.

For the day, the index picked up 7.46 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 15,602.66 after trading between 15,504.03 and 15,617.73.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial tumbled 1.70 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.22 percent, CTBC Financial lost 0.44 percent, Fubon Financial skidded 1.16 percent, First Financial was up 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.37 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.60 percent, Hon Hai Precision fell 0.40 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.13 percent, Catcher Technology perked 0.27 percent, MediaTek added 0.54 percent, Delta Electronics improved 1.17 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gained 0.55 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 0.45 percent, Nan Ya Plastics sank 0.80 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.35 percent and Taiwan Cement dropped 0.95 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday, rallied midday but sank into the red by the close.

The Dow tumbled 127.89 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 33,926.01, while the NASDAQ plunged 193.84 points or 1.59 percent to close at 12,006.96 and the S&P 500 sank 43.28 points or 1.04 percent to end at 4,136.48.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6 percent and the Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the release of much stronger than expected jobs data.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher than currently anticipated.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Friday amid concerns about the outlook for fuel demand, with investors weighing the prospects of a recession - while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $2.49 or 3.3 percent at $73.39 a barrel.