Taiwan Shares Figure To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 120 points or 0.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,930-point plateau, although it figures to turn lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower as inflation concerns war with support from oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials and mixed performances from the technology, cement and plastic sectors.

For the day, the index advanced 124.63 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 15,929.43 after trading between 15,854.25 and 15,973.82.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 1.29 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.45 percent, CTBC Financial advanced 0.90 percent, First Financial rose 0.37 percent, Fubon Financial spiked 2.09 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.59 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.18 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.58 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.46 percent, Largan Precision plummeted 4.41 percent, MediaTek dipped 0.27 percent, Delta Electronics surged 4.66 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.00 percent, Formosa Plastics was up 0.21 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.11 percent, China Steel slumped 1.11 percent and Catcher Technology, Taiwan Cement and Nan Ya Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off early support on Friday, quickly heading south and staying in the red throughout the day.

The Dow tumbled 143.23 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,886.47, while the NASDAQ sank 42.83 points or 0.35 percent to close at 12,123.47 and the S&P 500 fell 8.58 points or 0.21 percent to end at 4,137.64. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent and the NASAQ rose 0.3 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street coincided with the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing a jump in inflation expectations in the month of April.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales fell more than expected in March, while the Federal Reserve said U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in March, although the increase was largely due to a spike in utilities output.

Crude oil futures settled modestly higher Friday, lifted by the International Energy Agency's forecast that global crude demand will grow to a record 101.9 million barrels per day this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May rose $0.36 or 0.4 percent at $82.52 a barrel.