(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, sliding more than 100 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just shy of the 12,730-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism for economic recovery, although a rising number of coronavirus cases may limit the upside. The European markets were down on Friday and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and cement companies, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index sank 68.46 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 12,728.85 after trading between 12,674.57 and 12,799.16.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial eased 0.12 percent, while Fubon Financial collected 0.46 percent, First Financial added 0.71 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 2.03 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.23 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.16 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.72 percent, MediaTek rallied 2.87 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.47 percent, Taiwan Cement dropped 0.80 percent and Mega Financial, CTBC Financial, E Sun Financial, Hon Hai Precision and Formosa Plastic all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved higher on Friday, sending the NASDAQ and S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow climbed 161.60 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 28,653.87, while the NASDAQ gained 70.30 points or 0.60 percent to end at 11,695.63 and the S&P 500 rose 23.46 points or 0.67 percent to close at 3,508.01. For the week, the Dow gained 2.6 percent, the NASDAQ rose 3.4 percent and the S&P was up 3.3 percent.
The support on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement of the central bank's adoption of average inflation targeting. Powell's comments on Thursday were seen as an indication the Fed will leave interest rates at near-zero levels for the foreseeable future even if there is an acceleration in the pace of inflation.
Adding to the positive sentiment, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in personal income in July. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved by more than estimated in August.
Crude oil prices ended slightly lower on Friday, as worries about the near-term energy demand outlook amid a surge in new coronavirus cases weighed on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $0.07 or 0.2 percent at $42.97 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
