Taiwan Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 200 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 16,700-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns for the outlook for interest rates and the global economy. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index gained 130.29 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 16,696.12 after trading between 16,650.81 and 16,783.78.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.95 percent, while Mega Financial tanked 2.45 percent, CTBC Financial tumbled 2.94 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.13 percent, First Financial skidded 1.09 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.93 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.50 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.66 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.48 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.90 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 2.03 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.45 percent, Novetek Microelectronics improved 1.52 percent, Formosa Plastic lost 0.47 percent, Nan Ya Plastics perked 0.58 percent, Taiwan Cement rose 0.22 percent and Delta Electronics and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened under pressure and saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, finishing deep in the red.

The Dow plummeted 1,063 points or 3.12 percent to finish at 32,997.97, while the NASDAQ plunged 647.16 points or 4.99 percent to close at 12,317.16 and the S&P 500 tumbled 153.30 points or 3.56 percent to end at 4,146.87.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on the rally that followed the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, which was less hawkish than some had feared.

But concerns about higher rates, inflation, the economic outlook and the ongoing war in Ukraine remain, contributing to the sharp pullback on Wall Street. A sharp increase in treasury yields also weighed as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note hit to its highest levels in three years.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday, benefitting from the European Union proposal to impose sanctions on Russian oil, although prices pared some gains as the dollar rebounded on safe haven buying. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.45 or 0.4 percent at $108.26 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release April figures for consumer and wholesale prices later today; in March, overall inflation rose 0.31 percent on month and 3.27 percent on year, while wholesale prices surged an annual 13.89 percent.

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