Renewed Consolidation Called For Taiwan Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had given away almost 140 points or 1.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange settled just below the 9,640-point plateau, although the market may head south again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, thanks to hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The European and U.S. markets ended slightly lower, and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Friday, fueled by strength from the technology shares.

For the day, the index advanced 60.24 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 9,638.80 after trading between 9,606.51 and 9,674.77 on turnover of 98.80 billion Taiwan dollars.

Leading the gainers, Largan Precision surged 4.69 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly negative as stocks moved lower on Friday, handing back some of the gains from earlier in the week.

Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in Providence, R.I., Yellen said the central bank will likely raise interest rates this year, as long as economic activity picks up. She added that transitory factors were mostly to blame for first quarter weakness.

The S&P 500 was down 4.76 points or 0.2 percent to 2,126.06 but gained 0.2 percent for the week. The Dow dipped 0.3 percent or 53.72 points to 18,232.02 for a 0.2 percent weekly loss. The NASDAQ eased 1.43 points to 5,089.36, but added 0.8 percent for the week.

The choppy trading also followed the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation, which rose in line with estimates, although core prices rose by more than expected.

The U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday, and will re-open on Tuesday.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see April numbers for commercial sales and industrial output later today. Commercial sales are expected to fall 1.4 percent on year after losing 0.65 percent in March. Industrial output is expected to add an annual 4.1 percent after gaining 6.49 percent in the previous month.