Tech Shares Expected To Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 330 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,600-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, fueled by gains from the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financials, cement stocks and plastics.

For the day, the index climbed 175.03 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 15,595.16 after trading between 15,496.52 and 15,602.09.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial soared 2.44 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.77 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 1.10 percent, Fubon Financial advanced 0.83 percent, First Financial lost 0.57 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.89 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.34 percent, Largan Precision perked 0.23 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.27 percent, MediaTek soared 3.18 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.19 percent, Novatek Microelectronics spiked 2.12 percent, Formosa Plastics rose 0.11 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dipped 0.27 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.47 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.14 percent and Hon Hai Precision and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is a dichotomy as the Dow opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout, while the NASDAQ and S&P opened higher and stayed solidly in the green.

The Dow dipped 39.02 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,053.94, while the NASDAQ surged 384.50 points or 3.25 percent to end at 12,200.82 and the S&P 500 soared 60.55 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,179.76.

The surge by the NASDAQ came as Meta Platforms (META) led a tech sector rally, with the Facebook parent skyrocketing by 23.3 percent to a nearly eight-month closing high after reporting better than expected Q4 revenues.

Stocks also continued to benefit from a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement on Wednesday, with traders expressing optimism the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle.

At the same time, the Dow bucked the uptrend due partly to a notable decline by shares of Merck (MRK), which tumbled by 3.3 percent after the drug giant provided disappointing guidance.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. The dollar's recovery and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand due to concerns about a global recession also hurt. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.53 or 0.7 percent at $75.88 a barrel.