The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 330 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,160-point plateau and it's poised to see additional support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests mild upside on continued optimism for economic recovery. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial and cement shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index advanced 82.08 points or 0.48 percent to finish at the daily high of 17,158.81 after trading as low as 16,998.91.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial rose 0.10 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.47 percent, First Financial advanced 0.89 percent, E Sun Financial was up 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.45 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision rallied 2.07 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.95 percent, Catcher Technology soared 3.75 percent, MediaTek dropped 1.02 percent, Formosa Plastic gained 0.93 percent, Asia Cement jumped 1.35 percent, Taiwan Cement accelerated 2.30 percent and CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up being positive as the major averages shook off a mixed open on Friday to finish modestly in the green.
The Dow jumped 164.68 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 34,200.67, while the NASDAQ rose 13.58 points or 0.10 percent to end at 14,052.34 and the S&P 500 gained 15.05 points or 0.36 percent to close at 4,185.47. For the week, the S&P spiked 1.4 percent, the Dow rose 1.2 percent and the NASDAQ gained 1.1 percent.
Upbeat earnings news generated continued buying interest, as Morgan Stanley (MS) joined other financial giants in reporting better than expected first quarter earnings.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in March, while the University of Michigan said sentiment has continued to improve in April.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday, snapping a four-session winning streak but still finishing sharply higher for the week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May were down $0.33 or 0.5 percent at $63.13 a barrel, although the contract gained nearly 6.5 percent in the week.
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