Additional Support Likely For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market rebounded on Thursday, one session after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 680 points or 3.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,050-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on decent earnings and economic news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished slightly higher again on Thursday following gains from the financials, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index rose 42.86 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 23,053.84 after trading between 22,950.70 and 23,191.79.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.18 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.90 percent, CTBC Financial added 0.55 percent, First Financial rose 0.37 percent, Fubon Financial strengthened 1.44 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.35 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.96 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.71 percent, Largan Precision rallied 1.39 percent, Catcher Technology improved 1.26 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.77 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gathered 0.38 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.94 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 1.54 percent, Asia Cement soared 2.84 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but ebbed and flowed as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 161.35 points or 0.37 percent to finish at a record 43,239.05, while the NASDAQ rose 6.53 points or 0.04 percent to close at 18,373.61 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.00 point or 0.02 percent to end at 5,841.47.

Strength among semiconductor stocks supported the markets for much of the session before a late-day pullback, although the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index still ended up 1.0 percent.

The strength in the sector came after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) reported a sharp increase in third quarter profits.

In economic news, Commerce Department said retail sales increased more than expected in September. Also, the Labor Department noted an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday, supported by data showing an unexpected drop in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $70.67 a barrel.