Rally May Stall For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, gathering almost 190 points or 1.9 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,515-point plateau although the market may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is roughly flat amid a lack of catalysts, with a mild bump in crude oil prices limiting any downside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and flat, and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, technology stocks and steel producers.

For the day, the index added 26.55 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 10,515.51 after trading between 10,478.72 and 10,519.84 on turnover of 119.71 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Taiwan Steel surged 2.67 percent, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.23 percent, AU Optronics picked up 0.41 percent, Hon Hai Precision and Largan Precision were unchanged, Innolux advanced 0.70 percent, Cathay Financial added 0.21 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.53 percent, Mega Financial shed 0.42 percent and CTBC Financial gained 0.51 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as stocks turned mixed on Friday, after failing to sustain an early upward move.

The NASDAQ fell 5.68 points or 0.1 percent to 6,265.64, while the Dow added 30.27 points or 0.1 percent to 21,813.67 and the S&P gained 4.08 points or 0.2 percent to 2,443.05. For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, NASDAQ was up 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The early strength was due to optimism about tax reform after reports President Donald Trump would launch a public campaign to highlight the need for reform this week.

Traders also reacted to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks at the Fed's economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She refrained from discussing monetary policy, focusing on the topic of financial stability a decade after the onset of the financial crisis.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi also spoke at the symposium, saying the global economic recovery is "firming up."