Soft Start Expected For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 330 points or 1.5 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 22,700-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support expected from airline, steel and financial stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the technology and financial shares were capped by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index gained 166.24 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 22,693.25 after trading between 22,513.35 and 22,699.29.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rallied 2.62 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.83 percent, First Financial improved 0.85 percent, E Sun Financial strengthened 1.46 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.92 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.46 percent, Hon Hai Precision rose 0.31 percent, Largan Precision perked 0.23 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.72 percent, MediaTek soared 3.32 percent, Delta Electronics skyrocketed 6.98 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plunged 2.55 percent, Formosa Plastics increased 0.88 percent, Nan Ya Plastics lost 0.55 percent, Asia Cement climbed 1.10 percent and CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but gradually moved higher over the course of the day to end with small gains.

The Dow climbed 192.34 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 44,650.64, while the NASDAQ rose 19.33 points or 0.09 percent to close at 20,630.66 and the S&P 500 added 17.20 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,280.46.

The higher close on Wall Street came despite ongoing uncertainty about President Donald Trump's trade policies as he continues to threaten higher tariffs on various sectors and countries.

On the economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday amid concerns about a supply increase for August by OPEC, the huge crude stock inventory in the United States and intensifying U.S. tariff pressures. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery tumbled $1.81 to settle at $66.57 per barrel.