(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday snapped the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 730 points or 2.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 27,700-point plateau and it figures to open to the upside again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology and oil stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.
For the day, the index jumped 227.82 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 27,696.35 after trading between 27,672.05 and 27,869.78.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Largan Precision both rallied 1.48 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.50 percent, CTBC Financial rose 0.30 percent, First Financial strengthened 1.87 percent, Fubon Financial added 0.52 percent, E Sun Financial expanded 0.90 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation improved 0.80 percent, Hon Hai Precision vaulted 2.55 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.84 percent, MediaTek sank 0.70 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 2.24 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.40 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.88 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 4.36 percent, Asia Cement dropped 0.96 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.
The Dow jumped 183.04 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 48,134.89, while the NASDAQ rallied 301.26 points or 1.31 percent to end at 23,307.62 and the S&P 500 gained 59.74 points or 0.88 percent to close at 6,834.50.
For the week, the Dow slid 0.7 percent, the NASDAQ added 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent.
The continued strength on Wall Street came amid sharp gains from the technology shares thanks to solid earnings news and easing concerns of a tech bubble.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a modest increase by existing home sales in the U.S. in November. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded less than expected in December.
Crude oil increased on Friday amid concerns of a supply side disruption due to brewing U.S.-Venezuela tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up by $0.47 or 0.84 percent at $56.62 per barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will see November data for unemployment later today; in October, the jobless rate was 3.33 percent.
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