The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, gathering almost 130 points or 1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just shy of the 13,870-point plateau and it's predicted to see additional support again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is positive on optimism for a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financials and technology stocks.
For the day, the index rose 21.43 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 13,867.09 after trading between 13,811.81 and 13,885.01.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.36 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.68 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.25 percent, Fubon Financial was up 0.11 percent, First Financial was down 0.47 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.39 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.89 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.48 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.15 percent, MediaTek lost 0.68 percent, Formosa Plastic fell 0.46 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement climbed 0.81 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Catcher Technology were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks opened higher on Friday and stayed mostly in the green throughout the shortened session, although the Dow slipped briefly into the red before rebounding.
The Dow rose 37.90 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 29.910.37, while the NASDAQ climbed 111.44 points or 0.92 percent to 12,205.85 and the S&P 500 added 8.70 points or 0.24 percent to close at 3,638.35. For the week, the Dow added 2.2 percent, the NASDAQ gained 3 percent and the S&P rose 2.3 percent.
Optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine has contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, although some questions have been raised about the efficacy of the vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
Nonetheless, overall trading activity was subdued in the shortened trading session, as many traders remained away from their desks following Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday but still managed to post a strong weekly gain. Rising optimism about coronavirus vaccine raised hopes that global energy demand will pick up and lifted crude oil prices in recent sessions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January fell $0.18 or 0.4 percent at $45.53 a barrel. WTI crude oil futures gained 8 percent for the week.
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