Taiwan Stock Market Has A Green Light For Friday

The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back trading days, collecting more than 250 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,075-point plateau and it’s got a solid lead again for Friday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for economic recovery and rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index jumped 210.76 points or 1.25 percent to finish at the daily high of 17,076.73 after moving as low as 16,851.06.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial spiked 2.57 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.68 percent, Fubon Financial surged 5.08 percent, First Financial perked 1.12 percent, E Sun Financial accelerated 2.09 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.14 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.76 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.41 percent, Largan Precision advance 0.99 percent, Catcher Technology gathered 1.01 percent, MediaTek rallied 2.07 percent, Formosa Plastic soared 3.85 percent, Asia Cement jumped 1.90 percent, Taiwan Cement improved 1.91 percent and Mega Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks moved sharply higher on Thursday, offsetting losses from the previous session and sending the Dow and the S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.

The Dow spiked 305.10 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 34,035.99, while the NASDAQ jumped 180.92 points or 1.31 percent to end at 14,038.76 and the S&P 500 gained 45.76 points or 1.11 percent to close at 4,170.42.

The rally on Wall Street followed a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales spiked much more than expected in March. A separate report from by the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back much more than expected last week.

Also, The National Association of Home Builders noted a modest increase in U.S. homebuilder confidence in April, while the Federal Reserve reported a rebound in industrial production last month.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, extending gains to a fourth straight session, continuing to ride on the recent upward revision in the global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.31 or 0.5 percent at $63.46 a barrel.