Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 850 points or 3.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 22,740-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were own and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and plastics, while the technology companies were mixed and volatile.

For the day, the index perked 27.39 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 22,742.77 after trading between 22,690.77 and 22,940.80.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.34 percent, while Mega Financial added 0.64 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial soared 4.20 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.78 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.56 percent, Hon Hai Precision tanked 2.13 percent, Largan Precision surged 4.54 percent, Catcher Technology plummeted 6.07 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.83 percent, Delta Electronics sank 0.77 percent, Novatek Microelectronics strengthened 1.25 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 2.42 percent, Nan Ya Plastics jumped 1.89 percent, Asia Cement improved 1.32 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday and only weakened further as the day progressed.

The Dow plunged 305.87 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 43,444.99, while the NASDAQ plummeted 427.53 points or 2.24 percent to close at 18,680.12 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.55 points or 1.32 percent to end at 5,870.62. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 3.2 percent, the S&P sank 2.1 percent and the Dow fell 1.2 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Federal Reserve Chair Powell's recent remarks suggesting the central bank doesn't need to hurry to lower rates. Citing the strength of the U.S. economy, Powell said the Fed can take a careful approach to future monetary policy decisions.

Potentially adding to concerns economic strength will lead the Fed to hold off on future rate cuts, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales increased by slightly more than expected in October.

Oil futures plummeted Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand, recent data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.68 or 2.45 percent at $67.02 a barrel; they shed 5 percent in the week.