Higher Open Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, accelerating more than 500 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,500-point plateau and it's looking at another strong start on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index gained 110.75 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 16,507.65 after trading between 16,412.54 and 16,520.10.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 1.11 percent, while Mega Financial climbed 1.19 percent, CTBC Financial soared 2.63 percent, First Financial rallied 1.33 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.66 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.83 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.37 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation spiked 2.38 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.24 percent, Largan Precision strengthened 1.20 percent, MediaTek perked 0.23 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.84 percent, Novatek Microelectronics declined 1.44 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.91 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 1.27 percent, Asia Cement added 0.63 percent, Taiwan Cement accelerated 1.70 percent, China Steel was up 1.24 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 222.22 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 34,061.32, while the NASDAQ jumped 184.08 points or 1.38 percent to end at 13,478.28 and the S&P 600 gained 40.56 points or 0.95 percent to close at 4,358.34.

For the week, the NASDAQ skyrocketed 6.6 percent, the S&P 500 soared 5.9 percent and the Dow spiked 5.1 percent.

The continued strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing U.S. employment rose less than expected in October.

The data added to optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates after the central bank left rates unchanged for the third time in four meetings last week.

Treasury yields also extended a recent slump following the release of the report, adding to the buying interest on Wall Street.

Crude oil moved sharply lower on Friday on worries about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate for December delivery tumbled $1.95 or 2.4 percent to $80.51 a barrel.