Higher Open Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 370 points or 2.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 16,390-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and support from crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets ended sharply higher and the Asian bourses are also tipped to open in the green.

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

For the day, the index added 39.29 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 16,387.28 after trading between 16,347.88 and 16,519.96.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.71 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.62 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.44 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.13 percent, First Financial dipped 0.22 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.53 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.95 percent, Largan Precision plunged 3.90 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.31 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.55 percent, Delta Electronics plummeted 4.46 percent, Formosa Plastic declined 1.30 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.11 percent and Taiwan Cement retreated 1.19 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and stayed comfortably in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 534.75 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 34,912.56, while the NASDAQ spiked 251.79 points or 1.73 percent to close at 14,823.43 and the S&P 500 jumped 74.45 points or 1.71 percent to end at 4,438.26.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders reacted positively to a batch of largely upbeat earnings news from several big-name companies, including UnitedHealth (UNH), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Adding to the positive sentiment, the Labor Department said that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped below 300,000 for the first time in well over a year last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) lifted its global oil demand forecast. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.87 or 1.1 percent at $81.31 a barrel, the highest level since October 2014.