Taiwan Shares May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has closed higher in three consecutive trading days, collecting more than 170 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,460-point plateau and it may see mild upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, thanks mainly to a continued rebound in the price of crude oil. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher - and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 39.47 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 10,460.15 after trading between 10,418.74 and 10,485.28 on turnover of 114.94 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 1.90 percent, while AU Optronics plummeted 2.71 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.30 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.91 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.75 percent, Taiwan Cement added 0.43 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.96 percent and Mega Financial and Cathay Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks were lackluster on Thursday but managed to end slightly higher.

The Dow crept up 20.95 points or 0.1 percent to 21,553.09, while the NASDAQ rose 13.27 points or 0.2 percent to 6,274.44 and the S&P added 4.58 points or 0.2 percent to 2,447.83.

Crude oil futures continued to climb Thursday, a day after data confirmed the biggest drop in U.S. inventories in ten months. August WTI climbed 59 cents or 1.3 percent to $46.08/bbl.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's second day of testimony on Capitol Hill also attracted attention when she said gradual interest rate hikes are appropriate over the next few years.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest uptick in U.S. producer prices in June, while a separate report showed a slight decrease in first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended July 8th.