Taiwan Shares Tipped To Stop The Bleeding On Friday

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 100 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,040-point plateau although it’s poised to end its slide on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting expected to provide a boost, especially among oversold technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the financial shares and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the cement companies.

For the day, the index dropped 90.30 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 16,042.36 after trading between 15,943.45 and 16,154.08.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial tumbled 1.84 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial shed 0.57 percent, First Financial lost 0.46 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.59 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 3.73 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.95 percent, Largan Precision and MediaTek both skidded 1.38 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.28 percent, Formosa Plastic retreated 1.73 percent, Asia Cement added 0.50 percent, Taiwan Cement gained 0.59 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Mega Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and picked up steam as the day progressed, cutting into the losses from the previous two days.

The Dow jumped 188.11 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 34,084.15, while the NASDAQ spiked 236.00 points or 1.77 percent to end at 13,535.74 and the S&P 500 advanced 43.44 points or 1.06 percent to close at 4,159.12.

The support on Wall Street came in reaction to the sell-off in the previous session, with upbeat earnings and optimism about global economic recovery helping to offset inflation worries and fears about monetary easing.

In economic news, the Labor Department said unemployment claims in the U.S. dropped last week to their lowest since the week ended March 14. Also, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index fell in May from a 50-year high in April.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, extending losses to a third straight day as signs of progress in Iran nuclear talks raised expectations that global crude supply will see a surge in the near term. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $1.31 or 2.1 percent at $62.05 a barrel on the expiration day.