Taiwan Stock Market Has Solid Lead For Monday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 550 points or 3.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,300-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the oversold Asian markets is broadly positive, with the oil, technology and financial sectors expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, plastics and cement stocks, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 126.92 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 15,303.32 after trading between 15,232.34 and 15,424.37.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.75 percent, while Mega Financial accelerated 2.26 percent, CTBC Financial advanced 0.96 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.31 percent, First Financial gained 0.57 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.85 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.21 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.95 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.85 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.79 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.30 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.76 percent, Delta Electronics rallied 2.14 percent, Formosa Plastics increased 0.93 percent, Nan Ya Plastics perked 1.68 percent, Asia Cement strengthened 1.51 percent and Taiwan Cement gathered 1.28 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday and remained that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 823.28 points or 2.68 percent to finish at 31,500.68, while the NASDAQ rallied 375.42 points or 3.34 percent to end at 11,607.62 and the S&P 500 jumped 116.01 points or 3.06 percent to close at 3,911.74.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ soared by 7.5 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow spiked by 6.4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

Traders continue to express concerns about inflation, interest rates and a potential recession but may feel to sell-off earlier this month was overdone.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department unexpectedly reported a significant rebound in new home sales in May. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. tumbled more than expected in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on optimism for continued high demand for energy and tight supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $3.35 or 3.2 percent at $107.62 a barrel. WTI futures shed 1.8 percent in the week.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see June results for its consumer confidence index later today; in May, the index score was 67.81.