Taiwan Bourse May Reclaim 18,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 225 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,970-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with many believing that the heavy selling earlier this week was overdone. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index advanced 78.55 points or 0.44 percent to finish at the daily high of 17,968.11 after trading as low as 17,832.95.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial gained 0.68 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.66 percent, CTBC Financial advanced 0.70 percent, First Financial climbed 1.13 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.47 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 0.61 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation perked 0.10 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.49 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.21 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.77 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.73 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.79 percent, Novatek Microelectronics increased 0.78 percent, Formosa Plastics spiked 1.94 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 2.30 percent, Asia Cement accelerated 0.75 percent, Taiwan Cement strengthened 1.72 percent, China Steel was up 0.40 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and largely accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 369.54 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 38,519.84, while the NASDAQ jumped 197.63 points or 1.30 percent to end at 15,361.64 and the S&P 500 gained 60.54 points or 1.25 percent to close at 4,906.19.

The rebound on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday's selloff. The Federal Reserve signals that an interest rate cut in March is unlikely, but economists believe it is a matter of "when, not if" the central bank will eventually lower rates.

A continued decrease by treasury yields may also have contributed to the buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling to its lowest levels in over a month.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly saw a modest increase last week. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity increased in January but continues to indicate contraction.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday with traders following the negotiations of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, although a possible pick-up in energy demand helped limit the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March sank $2.03 or 2.7 percent at $73.82 a barrel.