Taiwan Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 480 points or 2.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 20,700-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology and plastic sectors.

For the day, the index advanced 148.07 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 20,708.84 after trading between 20,574.01 and 20,765.82.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial skyrocketed 9.04 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.28 percent, Fubon Financial soared 2.72 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 1.06 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company lost 0.75 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 1.19 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.13 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.13 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.88 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 1.24 percent, China Steel slumped 1.20 percent and First Financial, Mega Financial and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.