Higher Open Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 600 points or 2.7 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,315-point plateau and it may strengthen again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests support ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed 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 plastics.

For the day, the index jumped 155.02 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 23,316.60 after trading between 23,216.65 and 23,348.42.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.78 percent, while CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial added 0.72 percent, Fubon Financial strengthened 1.31 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.70 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.45 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.17 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 1.27 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 2.84 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 1.48 percent, Formosa Plastics improved 1.62 percent, Nan Ya Plastics advanced 0.99 percent, Asia Cement slipped 0.24 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation, Largan Precision, MediaTek and Cathay Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher, although the Dow quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow stumbled 125.65 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,747.63, while the NASDAQ advanced 99.66 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19.971.99 and the S&P 500 added 22.09 points or 0.36 percent to end at 6,083.57.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Traders will be watching the numbers, which could affect the Federal Reserve's outlook for interest rates.

A day ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil saw further downside on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil production in an effort to lower prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery slid $0.42 or 0.6 percent to a one-month low of $70.61 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release January figures for imports, exports, trade balance and inflation later today. In December, imports were up 30.4 percent on year and exports rose an annual 9.2 percent for a trade surplus of $6.08 billion. Consumer prices were up 0.15 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year.