Taiwan Bourse Tipped To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, sliding almost 180 points 0r 1.7 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,370-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm, with bargain hunting expected after heavy damage last week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and the technology stocks.

For the day, the index skidded 156.77 points or 1.49 percent to finish at 10,371.75 after trading between 10,189.04 and 10,392.31 on turnover of 150.89 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.94 percent, while Fubon Financial lost 0.79 percent, Mega Financial fell 0.62 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 2.52 percent, Largan Precision plummeted 4.03 percent, AU Optronics plunged 3.26 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 1.69 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation slid 0.71 percent, Innolux dropped 1.85 percent, Taiwan Steel Union jumped 1.89 percent and China Steel was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks saw substantial volatility on Friday, showing wild swings before closing sharply higher.

The Dow added 330.44 points or 1.38 percent to 24,190.90, the NASDAQ gained 97.33 points or 1.44 percent to 6,874.49 and the S&P jumped 38.55 points 1.49 percent to 2,619.55. For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.1 percent and the Dow and the S&P both plunged 5.2 percent.

The higher close was due to bargain hunting after steep losses in the previous session dragged the major averages to their lowest closing levels in about two months.

Traders may also have reacted positively to news that lawmakers ended a brief government shutdown with a bill raising spending caps and funding the government until March 23rd.

But the day's volatility came amid lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates. Recent signs of rising inflation have led to worries that the Federal Reserve may raise rates faster than anticipated.

Crude oil futures plunged Friday, entering correction mode. Rising U.S. production, new oil fields in Nigeria and Angola and a stronger dollar have dented oil prices badly in recent weeks. March WTI oil fell $1.95 or 3.2 percent to $59.20/bbl, the lowest since Dec. 22. Oil prices dropped 10 percent last week.