(RTTNews) – The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in eight straight sessions, collecting more than 1,450 points or 5.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 25,475-point plateau although it’s expected to run out of steam on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with geopolitical concerns in the Middle East likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks, plastics companies and cement units.
For the day, the index jumped 258.93 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 25,474.64 after trading between 25,349.70 and 25,492.28.
Among the actives, Mega Financial and Novatek Microelectronics both perked 0.12 percent, while First Financial, Nan Ya Plastics and Formosa Plastics all collected 0.67 percent, E Sun Financial dipped 0.15 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.61 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.61 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.40 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.86 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.81 percent, MediaTek rose 0.34 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.72 percent, Asia Cement rallied 1.25 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and closed on opposite sides of the line.
The Dow dropped 273.78 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 45,834.22, while the NASDAQ gained 98.03 points or 0.44 percent to close at 22,141.10 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.18 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,584.29.
For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 shot up 1.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.0 percent.
The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.
Traders will pay close attention to the Fed’s accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of more rate cuts. Currently, the Fed is expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.
Crude oil has moved higher Friday as concerns over supply side disruptions linger, with the Russia-Ukraine war intensifying and a new conflict brewing in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.31 or 0.50 percent at $62.68 per barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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