Taiwan Stock Market Overdue For Consolidation On Friday

The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in four straight sessions, improving nearly 270 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 18,435-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with oil and technology stocks likely to drag the markets to the downside. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index gained 61.53 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 18,436.93 after trading between 18,346.81 and 18,459.73.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial soared 4.17 percent, while Mega Financial spiked 2.30 percent, CTBC Financial accelerated 3.83 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 2.00 percent, First Financial collected 0.98 percent, E Sun Financial improved 1.70 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was up 0.15 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.26 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.96 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.63 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.38 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 1.77 percent, Formosa Plastic fell 0.46 percent, Taiwan Cement gained 0.95 percent and Largan Precision and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but gradually faded into the red as the day progressed.

The Dow dropped 176.70 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 36,113.62, while the NASDAQ plummeted 381.58 points or 2.51 percent to end at 14,806.58 and the S&P 500 sank 67.32 points or 1.42 percent to close at 4,659.03.

The sharp pullback by the NASDAQ came as traders cashed in on recent strength in the tech sector. Tech stocks got off to a rocky start in the New Year amid concerns about higher interest rates but regained some ground earlier this week.

Traders were also digesting another reading on U.S. inflation, with a report from the Labor Department showing only a slight uptick in U.S. producer prices last month. A separate report from the Labor Department showed an increase in initial jobless claims last week.

Crude oil prices gave ground on Thursday as investors cashed in on recent gains that led to a two-month closing high. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery slid $0.52 or 0.6 percent to $82.12 a barrel after jumping $1.42 or 1.7 percent to $82.64 a barrel in the previous session.