Higher Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 160 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 24,180-point plateau expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday as the financial shares and technology stocks were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index improved 79.55 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 24,179.85 after trading between 24,168.16 and 24,389.35.

Among the actives, First Financial collected 1.38 percent, while Fubon Financial added 0.58 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.15 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.25 percent, Largan Precision improved 1.48 percent, MediaTek sank 0.72 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.62 percent, Novatek Microelectronics climbed 1.15 percent, Formosa Plastics increased 1.32 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.02 percent and Asia Cement, Cathay Financial, Mega Financial, CTBC Financial, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Catcher Technology were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and climbed steadily higher throughout the day, finishing at session high.

The Dow rallied 350.06 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,621.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 209.97 points or 0.98 percent to end at 21,707.69 and the S&P 500 gained 53.82 points or 0.83 percent to close at 6,502.08.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week.

While the reports add to recent signs of weakness in the labor market, the data has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release August data for consumer prices later today; in July, overall inflation was up 0.24 percent on month and 1.54 percent on year.