Taiwan Stock Market May Find Traction On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 730 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 27,470-point plateau although it's expected to halt its slide on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on renewed optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index shed 56.67 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 27,468.53 after trading between 27,350.77 and 27,569.44.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rallied 1.64 percent, while Mega Financial perked 0.12 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.82 percent, First Financial added 0.51 percent, Fubon Financial shed 0.51 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.75 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.20 percent, Hon Hai Precision slipped 0.23 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.49 percent, MediaTek contracted 0.35 percent, Delta Electronics was up 0.11 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.13 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 0.63 percent and Asia Cement, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Catcher Technology and Nan Ya Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, albeit off of session highs.

The Dow added 65.88 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 47,951.85, while the NASDAQ jumped 313.04 points or 1.38 percent to end at 23,006.36 and the S&P 500 gained 53.33 points or 0.79 percent to close at 6,774.76.

The strength on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department unexpectedly showing a slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth.

The tamer-than-expected inflation data has led to renewed confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates next year.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits declined roughly in line with estimates last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher again on Thursday amid the lingering geopolitical concerns stemming from Venezuela and Russia. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.13 or 0.2 percent at $56.07 a barrel.