Tech Shares Likely To Weigh On Taiwan Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, rallying more than 440 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 21,435-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the health of the world's economy. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index advanced 247.49 points or 1.17 percent to finish at 21,435.19 after trading between 21,125.14 and 21,461.71.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Delta Electronics both accelerated 1.76 percent, while Mega Financial advanced 0.91 percent, CTBC Financial spiked 1.86 percent, First Financial increased 0.74 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.22 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.73 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.77 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation climbed 1.11 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 0.86 percent, Largan Precision plummeted 6.32 percent, Catcher Technology strengthened 1.69 percent, MediaTek soared 3.15 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 1.35 percent, Formosa Plastics was up 0.11 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 1.78 percent and Asia Cement added 0.56 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day under water, finishing with heavy losses.

The Dow stumbled 410.39 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 40,345.41, while the NASDAQ plunged 436.87 points or 2.55 percent to close at 16,690.83 and the S&P 500 sank 94.99 points or 1.73 percent to end at 5,408.42.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.8 percent, the Dow tanked 2.9 percent and the S&P tumbled 4.3 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy after the Labor Department released a closely watched report showing employment rose by less than expected in the month of August.

While the data is seen as increasing the chances of a 50-basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month, traders seemed worried the central bank may have waited too long to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession.

Oil prices fell to an 18-month low on Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand following the disappointing jobs report. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or 2.1 percent at $67.67 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see August figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to climb 15.0 percent on year, easing from 16.2 percent in July. Exports are called higher by an annual 7.4 percent, up from 3.1 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $4.97 billion, up from $4.83 billion a month earlier.