Taiwan Bourse Tipped To Snap Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, dropping more than 570 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,080-point plateau although it may find support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky as the U.S. markets were shuttered on Thursday - while the European markets were roughly flat with an upside bias, and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology, plastic and cement sectors, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index stumbled 326.20 points or 1.39 percent to finish at the daily low of 23,081.13 after trading as high as 23,463.96.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.73 percent, while Mega Financial lost 0.26 percent, CTBC Financial eased 0.16 percent, First Financial was down 0.36 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.45 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.58 percent, Hon Hai Precision surrendered 2.66 percent, Largan Precision fell 0.57 percent, Catcher Technology sank 1.01 percent, MediaTek declined 2.04 percent, Delta Electronics weakened 2.45 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 2.57 percent, Formosa Plastics plummeted 3.76 percent, Nan Ya Plastics retreated 2.39 percent, Asia Cement shed 1.00 percent and Fubon Financial was unchanged.

There is no lead from Wall Street as the U.S. financial markets were closed on Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100.

Investors are looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today, which will potentially provide additional clarity about the strength of the labor market.

Oil prices moved higher Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for global oil demand, and potential supply shortage due to the sanctions on Iranian and Russian crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $0.60 or 0.82 percent at $73.92 a barrel.