Taiwan Stock Market Eyes Resistance At 16,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 210 points or 1.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,850-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing concerns over the health of the banking sector. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the technology stocks were capped by weakness from the financials and cement companies.

For the day, the index gained 79.67 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 15,849.43 after trading between 15,791.75 and 15,885.21.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.60 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.30 percent, CTBC Financial fell 0.23 percent, Fubon Financial was down 0.18 percent, First Financial eased 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.40 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.94 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation climbed 1.17 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 0.97 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.46 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.26 percent, MediaTek added 0.65 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.24 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.11 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement sank 0.41 percent and Delta Electronics, Nan Ya Plastics and China Steel were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Thursday, faded as the day progressed but still ended well in positive territory.

The Dow jumped 141.43 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 32,859.03, while the NASDAQ gained 87.24 points or 0.73 percent to close at 12,013.47 and the S&P 500 added 23.02 points or 0.57 percent to end at 4,050.83.

The continued strength on Wall Street came as concerns about turmoil in the banking sector continued to ease after sparking substantial volatility on Wall Street in recent weeks.

Traders also looked ahead to today's report on personal income and spending, which includes a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve and could have an impact on the outlook for interest rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 of 2022.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday on easing concerns over turmoil in the banking sector and supply disruptions in Turkey. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.40 or 1.9 percent at $74.37 a barrel.