Taiwan Stock Market Expected To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 200 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,440-point plateau and it may see mild upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished barely higher on Friday following mixed performances from the technology stocks and weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index added 4.55 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 17,438.35 after trading between 17,355.89 and 17,450.13.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial sank 0.97 percent, while Mega Financial tanked 2.15 percent, CTBC Financial retreated 1.46 percent, First Financial declined 1.26 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 0.93 percent, E Sun Financial stumbled 1.37 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.64 percent, Orient Semiconductor Electronics skyrocketed 7.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.99 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.05 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.51 percent, MediaTek perked 0.21 percent, Delta Electronics advanced 0.95 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.20 percent, Formosa Plastics lost 0.12 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.36 percent, Taiwan Cement tumbled 1.57 percent, China Steel shed 0.76 percent and Nan Ya Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, quickly moving firmly into the green and staying that way for the remainder of the session.

The Dow spiked 294.61 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 36,245.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 78.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 14,305.03 and the S&P 500 added 26.83 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,594.63.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.4 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing continued contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Some analysts suggested that the weaker-than-expected ISM survey may spur expectations that the Fed's next move is an interest rate cut.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid mounting skepticism over OPEC output cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $74.07 a barrel. Oil prices have now fallen in six straight weeks.