Taiwan Shares Poised To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, jumping almost 2,250 points or 5.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 42,270-point plateau and it's got a positive lead again for Monday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran war. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the technology stocks, while the financials and plastics were soft.

For the day, the index soared 899.77 points or 2.18 percent to finish at 42,267.97 after trading between 41,447.92 and 42,357.60.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.27 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.75 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.17 percent, First Financial shed 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial skidded 1.04 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 0.79 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 1.12 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.72 percent, Hon Hai Precision vaulted 1.01 percent, Largan Precision rallied 2.31 percent, Catcher Technology expanded 1.35 percent, MediaTek surged 8.73 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 3.20 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.21 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.09 percent, Nan Ya Plastics lost 0.69 percent and Asia Cement retreated 1.57 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained modestly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 294.00 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 50,579.70, while the NASDAQ rose 50.87 points or 0.19 percent to close at 26,343.97 and the S&P 500 added 27.75 points or 0.37 percent to end at 7,473.47.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ increased by 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came amid persistent optimism about an end to the U.S.-Iran war even as crude oil and gasoline prices remained elevated going into the busy Memorial Day weekend.

In economic news, a report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated much more than previously estimated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Friday as traders weighed concerns of an impending crude oil inventory shortage against the positive signals from U.S.-Iran peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.10 or 0.10 percent at $96.45 per barrel.