The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and cement companies
The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, spiking more than 360 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just shy of the 11,910-point plateau although it figures to open lower on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns about another wave of coronavirus. The European markets were down on Friday and the U.S. bourses were off, and the Asian markets are also tipped to open lower.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index advanced 104.06 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 11,909.16 after trading between 11,857.90 and 11,933.59.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Asia Cement both advanced 1.12 percent, while CTBC Financial gathered 1.46 percent, Fubon Financial perked 1.66 percent, First Financial collected 0.22 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company accelerated 2.33 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.61 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.81 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.88 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.65 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.92 percent, Taiwan Cement rallied 0.80 percent, Formosa Plastic was up 0.60 percent and Mega Financial was unchanged.
There is no lead from Wall Street, which was closed on Friday for the July 4 holiday, although the European markets ended lower on Friday as rising coronavirus cases in the U.S. raised fears of another lockdown in several states and dimmed hopes about a quick economic recovery.
According to reports, new cases of infection in the U.S. rose more than 53,000 in 24 hours Thursday, marking a record single-jump around the country and have continued that trend through the weekend.
In an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the virus may be mutating to become more transmissible, with high viral loads.
The mood was bearish almost right through Friday’s session. The pan European Stoxx 600 shed 0.78 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 declined 1.33 percent, Germany’s DAX shed 0.64 percent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.84 percent, while Switzerland’s SMI ended down 0.61 percent.
Meanwhile, the German Parliament has passed a resolution saying that the European Central Bank (ECB) has met the requirements from a top German court concerning the bank’s massive bond-buying program.
