Overbought Taiwan Shares Nonetheless Called Higher On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, rallying more than 825 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 19,000-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on solid economic data and a spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index advanced 126.79 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 18,002.62 after trading between 17,894.83 and 18,014.26.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.34 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial gained 0.54 percent, First Financial was up 0.19 percent, Fubon Financial and Taiwan Cement both increased 0.31 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 2.39 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surged 3.36 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.49 percent, Largan Precision added 0.59 percent, Catcher Technology perked 0.26 percent, MediaTek improved 0.75 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 1.73 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.38 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.55 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.33 percent, Asia Cement gathered 0.25 percent, China Steel slid 0.20 percent and E Sun Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher, gave ground midday but still finished well in the green.

The Dow jumped 242.74 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 38,049.13, while the NASDAQ added 28.58 points or 0.18 percent to close at 15,510.50 and the S&P 500 rose 25.61 points or 0.53 percent to end at a fresh record high of 4,894.16.

The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Commerce Department report showing stronger than expected U.S. economic growth as well as a slowdown in the pace of inflation in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to Friday's report on personal income and spending, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, continuing to benefit from Wednesday's data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventory. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March surged $2.27 or 3 percent at $77.36 a barrel.