The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 355 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Taiwan stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,855-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian is upbeat on solid economic data, easing bond yields and support from crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following weakness from the technology stocks and a mixed picture from the financial shares.
For the day, the index lost 51.17 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 15,855.23 after trading between 15,636.43 and 15,934.43.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.47 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.34 percent, CTBC Financial dipped 0.25 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.40 percent, First Financial was up 0.24 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.20 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 4.08 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.44 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.44 percent, Catcher Technology lost 0.51 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.56 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.12 percent and Taiwan Cement, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Formosa Plastic were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as stocks opened higher on Friday, fell into the red but then spiked to close firmly in the green.
The Dow surged 572.16 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 31,496.30, while the NASDAQ jumped 196.68 points or 1.55 percent to end at 12,920.15 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.47 points or 1.95 percent to close at 3,841.94. For the week, the Dow added 1.8 percent, the NASDAQ sank 2.1 percent and the S&P rose 0.8 percent.
The wild ride on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on the bond markets following the recent increase in yields - which spiked early in the session after the release of upbeat jobs data.
However, bond yields eased to end nearly flat, which inspired traders to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the weakness seen in recent sessions.
The volatility in the markets followed the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report, which showed much stronger than expected job growth in February. The report also said the jobless rate fell to 6.2 percent, the lowest in a year.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, extending gains after OPEC decided to maintain its output reduction agreement through April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $2.26 or 3.5 percent at $66.09 a barrel, the highest settlement since June 2019. WTI futures gained more than 7 percent in the week.
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