Taiwan Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 640 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,250-point plateau although it’s due for profit taking on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of key U.S. jobs data later today, and the effect it may have on interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian market figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the cement companies, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index gained 81.12 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 17,246.16 after trading between 17,198.89 and 17,311.28.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Hon Hai Precision both dropped 0.89 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.45 percent, CTBC Financial and First Financial both fell 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial skidded 1.21 percent, E Sun Financial and Asia Cement both slid 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surged 5.77 percent, Largan Precision eased 0.16 percent, MediaTek rallied 2.29 percent, Taiwan Cement gained 0.58 percent and Catcher Technology and Formosa Plastic were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened firmly lower on Thursday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still ended solidly in the red.

The Dow shed 23.34 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 34,577.04, while the NASDAQ plunged 141.82 points or 1.03 percent to end at 13,614.51 and the S&P 500 fell 15.27 points 0.36 percent to close at 4,192.85.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as strong jobs data led to renewed concerns about the outlook for monetary policy when payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. spiked much more than expected in May.

Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week. The data comes ahead of the Labor Department’s more closely watched report on the employment situation last month.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Thursday after two straight days of strong gains as traders reacted to inventory data and weighed energy demand prospects. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $0.02 at $68.81 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide final Q1 numbers for gross domestic product later today; the previous reading showed an expansion of 5.09 percent on year.