Taiwan Stock Market May Add To Thursday’s Winnings

The Taiwan stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the six-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 550 points or 3.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,080-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, rising strong support from crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to open in the green.

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

For the day, the index jumped 152.40 point or 0.90 percent to finish at 17,078.22 after trading between 16,998.07 and 17,145.25.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.23 percent, while Mega Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation both advanced 0.93 percent, CTBC Financial jumped 1.55 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.39 percent, First Financial gathered 1.12 percent, E Sun Financial perked 1.35 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.34 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.47 percent, Largan Precision rallied 2.60 percent, Catcher Technology surged 4.29 percent, MediaTek added 0.44 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.60 percent, Formosa Plastic soared 2.50 percent, Asia Cement increased 1.21 percent and Taiwan Cement improved 0.99 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 506.50 points or 1.48 percent to finish at 34,764.82, while the NASDAQ spiked 155.40 points or 1.04 percent to end at 15,052.24 and the S&P 500 jumped 53.34 points or 1.21 percent to close at 4,448.98.

The strength on Wall Street came amid easing concerns about Evergrande after the Chinese property developer reached a settlement with mainland bondholders.

The People’s Bank of China’s infusion of massive capital into the country’s banking system has also eased concerns about a potential default by Evergrande.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased for the second straight week in the week ended September 18.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Thursday amid prospects for a surge in energy demand and tighter supplies due to the slow recovery in the restoration of output in the Gulf of Mexico after recent hurricanes. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended up $1.07 or 1.5 percent at $73.30 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide August data for export orders later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 20.7 percent on year – down from 21.4 percent in July.