Taiwan Stock Market Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 360 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,910-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Friday.

The global forecast suggests little movement ahead of the end of the year, although some profit taking is possible. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and plastics, while the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index perked 18.87 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 17,910.37 after trading between 17,841.76 and 17,928.14.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial increased 0.77 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.51 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 1.07 percent, First Financial advanced 0.92 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.46 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.39 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company perked 0.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.87 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.48 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.53 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.77 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.44 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.20 percent, Formosa Plastics was up 0.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics jumped 1.36 percent, Asia Cement gathered 0.36 percent, China Steel rallied 0.37 percent and Delta Electronics and Taiwan Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 53.58 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 37,710.10, while the NASDAQ dipped 4.04 points or 0.03 percent to close at 15,095.14 and the S&P 500 rose 1.77 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,783.35.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in November.

While the data added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates, traders remained reluctant to make significant moves going into the end of the year.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on easing concerns about trade disruptions after several shipping companies resumed transit via the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $2.34 or 3 percent at $71.77 a barrel.