Tech Shares May Give Taiwan Bourse A Lift

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 370 points or 1.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,560-point plateau although it's likely to rebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with technology shares expected to lead the way higher. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday as the financials, technology stocks and plastics were all mostly lower.

For the day, the index fell 42.09 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 21,565.34 after trading between 21,381.25 and 21,608.72.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.18 percent, while Mega Financial dipped 0.25 percent, CTBC Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation both tanked 2.50 percent, First Financial plummeted 2.59 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.10 percent, E Sun Financial declined 1.22 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Largan Precision both dropped 0.91 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.73 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.10 percent, MediaTek sank 0.83 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.46 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plunged 2.24 percent, Formosa Plastics skidded 1.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.12 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.11 percent, Taiwan Cement rose 0.15 percent and China Steel lost 0.62 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat but inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Friday; the S&P and NASDAQ remained firmly higher all day, while the Dow struggled to stay above water.

The Dow rose 4.33 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 39,069.59, while the NASDAQ jumped 184.76 points or 1.10 percent to close at a record high of 16,920.79 and the S&P 500 gained 36.88 points or 0.70 percent to end at 5,304.72.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 was nearly unchanged and the Dow tumbled 2.3 percent.

The rebound on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the downturn seen on Thursday, which saw the Dow post its worst daily drop since March 2023.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected increase in durable goods orders in April. Also, the University of Michigan said in a report that consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated less than estimated in May.

Crude oil prices moved higher Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak despite concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $0.85 at $77.72 a barrel; for the week, WTI crude futures slumped 3 percent.