Win Streak May Continue For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, jumping more than 440 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,860-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index improved 103.49 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 15,863.95 after trading between 15,680.84 and 15,882.75.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial increased 0.48 percent, while Mega Financial improved 1.38 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 0.94 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.53 percent, First Financial gained 0.76 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 0.82 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.94 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.37 percent, Largan Precision perked 0.22 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.26 percent, MediaTek strengthened 1.54 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.17 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 0.58 percent, Nan Ya Plastics jumped 0.92 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement gathered 0.40 percent and Hon Hai Precision was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened firmly higher Thursday, faded into negative territory as the day progressed before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow added 75.14 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,105.25, while the NASDAQ surged 117.44 points or 1.01 percent to end at 11,787.40 and the S&P 500 rose 11.75 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,948.72.

The early rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to react to Wednesday's monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve, which indicated the central bank is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as concerns about the recent trouble in the banking sector continue to hang over the markets.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales in the U.S. increased from a significantly downwardly revised level in February.

Oil prices drifted lower Thursday on concerns the interest rate hikes by several central banks could slow down economic growth and impact the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.94 or 1.3 percent at $69.96 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see February figures for unemployment later today; in January, the jobless rate was 3.6 percent.