The Taiwan stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 270 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 13,980-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on reports that supply issues may delay the coronavirus vaccine rollout. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials, gains from the cement stocks and a mixed performance from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index eased 12.05 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 13,977.09 after trading between 13,940.07 and 14,049.58.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.49 percent, while Fubon Financial dipped 0.22 percent, First Financial fell 0.47 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.40 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surged 4.46 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.85 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.89 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.77 percent, MediaTek skidded 1.69 percent, Formosa Plastic perked 0.91 percent, Asia Cement gathered 0.81 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.69 percent and Mega Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks opened higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed to end mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 85.73 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 29,969.52, while the NASDAQ rose 27.82 points or 0.23 percent to end at 12,377.18 and the S&P 500 eased 2.29 points or 0.06 percent to close at 3,666.72.
The late-day pullback on Wall Street followed reports that said Pfizer (PFE) expects to ship half of the coronavirus vaccines it originally planned for this year because of supply-chain problems.
The strength seen earlier in the day followed a Labor Department report showing a much bigger than expected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.
Traders also kept an eye on Washington as lawmakers resumed negotiations over a new fiscal stimulus bill. Both Democrats and Republicans have offered new stimulus proposals, although it remains to be seen if they will finally reach an agreement after months of stagnation.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after OPEC said it will pare current production cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day to 7.2 million barrels per day beginning in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.36 or 0.8 percent at $45.64 a barrel.
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