Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Friday’s Gains

The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 170 points or 0.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,030-point plateau although figures to open under pressure on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with oil and technology stocks likely to drag the bourses lower. The European and U.S. markets finished with mild losses and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the technology and plastics companies, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index gained 126.27 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 23,032.25 after trading between 22,896.72 and 23,142.40.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial and E Sun Financial both dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.37 percent, CTBC Financial added 0.40 percent, First Financial and MediaTek both rose 0.36 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.15 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.63 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation slumped 1.24 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 0.71 percent, Largan Precision rallied 1.29 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.75 percent, Delta Electronics perked 0.26 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.88 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 0.61 percent and Novatek Microelectronics and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but faded throughout the day and ended mildly under water.

The Dow shed 45.24 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,118.86, while the NASDAQ slumped 126.10 points or 0.71 percent to close at 17,732.60 and the S&P 500 sank 22.39 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,460.48.

For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.2 percent but the Dow and the S&P 500 both eased 0.1 percent. However, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 posted substantial gains for the first half of 2024.

The early strength on Wall Street followed a Commerce Department report showing inflation in May matched estimates, generating renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The subsequent pullback by the markets may have reflected a negative reaction to a turnaround by treasury yields, which initially moved lower following the release of the data but subsequently rebounded firmly into positive territory.

Oil prices showed a modest move to the downside on Friday, coming down from a two-month high on profit taking. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dipped $0.20 or 0.2 percent to $81.54 a barrel.