The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 270 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,130-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start again on Monday - although it may see profit taking later in the day.
The global forecast for the Asian is positive on optimism for economic stimulus and a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to at least open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index jumped 155.34 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 14,132.44 after trading between 14,010.17 and 14,149.56.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 1.12 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.34 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.51 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.57 percent, First Financial rose 0.47 percent, E Sun Financial increased 0.59 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.21 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 9.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision gathered 1.10 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.73 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 1.02 percent, MediaTek added 0.71 percent, Formosa Plastic perked 0.90 percent, Asia Cement spiked 0.80 percent and Taiwan Cement was up 0.34 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, closing at fresh record highs.
The Dow jumped 248.74 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 30,218.26, while the NASDAQ gained 87.05 points or 0.70 percent to end at 12,464.23 and the S&P 500 rose 32.40 points or 0.88 percent to close at 3,699.12. For the week, the Dow added 1 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 2.1 percent and the S&P was up 1.7 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came despite the Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected job growth in November - but it underscored the need for stimulus from the government.
Traders are also hoping that the weaker than expected job growth will spur lawmakers in Washington to finally pass a new fiscal stimulus bill, although it remains to be seen if they can reach an agreement after months of stagnation.
Continued optimism about coronavirus vaccines also helped traders shrug off the disappointing jobs data, even as the virus surges and may force additional lockdown measures.
Oil prices moved higher on Friday as OPEC and Russia agreed to increase output beginning next month at a much slower pace to overcome coronavirus-induced demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed $0.62 or 1.4 percent to $46.26 a barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will provide November numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to add 0.3 percent on year after slipping 1.0 percent in October. Exports are called higher by an annual 8.4 percent after spiking 11.2 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $6.43 billion, down from $7.46 billion a month earlier.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
