Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Thursday's holiday for National Day, the Taiwan stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 630 points or 2.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 22,660-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on ebbing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 47.69 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 22,659.08 after trading between 22,637.17 and 22,885.95.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.15 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.51 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.85 percent, First Financial lost 0.56 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 0.88 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.99 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation slumped 1.33 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 2.58 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.41 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.63 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.13 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.20 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 2.46 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surrendered 2.35 percent, Asia Cement retreated 1.58 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as the major averages opened slightly under water on Thursday and pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow shed 57.88 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 42,454.12, while the NASDAQ dipped 9.57 points or 0.05 percent to close at 18,282.05 and the S&P 500 sank 11.99 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,780.05.

The modest weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of September.

The bigger than expected increase by consumer prices further offset optimism that the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates in the coming months.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to a separate Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits increased by much more than expected last week.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as worries about escalating tensions in the Middle East outweighed uncertainty about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $2.61 or about 3.56 percent at $75.85 a barrel.