Taiwan Bourse May Challenge Resistance At 23,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday halted the three-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 425 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,900-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks, in particular. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while weakness from the plastics sector limited the upside.

For the day, the index added 76.24 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 22,908.30 after trading between 22,905.40 and 23,092.07.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.29 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.79 percent, First Financial perked 0.18 percent, E Sun Financial dipped 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.94 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.37 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.82 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.34 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.77 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.11 percent, Delta Electronics lost 0.72 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 2.08 percent, Formosa Plastics skidded 1.15 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.17 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.37 percent and CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 339.83 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 42,732.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 340.88 points or 1.77 percent to close at 19,621.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.92 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,942.47.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. Some traders also remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday amid optimism for the outlook for demand on recent data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $0.83 or 1.13 percent at $73.96 a barrel.