The Taiwan stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 300 points or 2.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Market now rests just above the 11,970-point plateau and it's called higher again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index jumped 153.53 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 11,970.63 after trading between 11,889.46 and 11,992.55.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.48 percent, while Mega Financial gained 0.65 percent, CTBC Financial rose 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.44 percent, First Financial increased 1.08 percent, E Sun Financial was up 0.72 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 2.43 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.90 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.69 percent, Largan Precision advanced 1.67 percent, Catcher Technology gathered 1.72 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.51 percent, Asia Cement accelerated 0.82 percent, Taiwan Cement added 0.12 percent and Formosa Plastic was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks saw continued upside on Thursday, propelling the major averages to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow added 212.08 points or 0.74 percent to 28,957.17, while the NASDAQ gained 74.18 points or 0.81 percent to 9,203.43 and the S&P 500 rose 21.65 points or 0.67 percent to 3,274.70.
Easing concerns about the conflict between the U.S. and Iran contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street amid signs of de-escalation.
Nonetheless, overall trading activity was subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report later today.
Crude oil futures settled near four-week lows on Thursday as higher U.S. crude inventories and easing worries about U.S.-Iran standoff pushed prices down for a second straight session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.05 or 0.03 percent at $59.56 a barrel, off the session's low of $58.66 a barrel.
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