Tech Shares May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market has tracked lower in two straight sessions, slumping more than 40 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 20,750-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing Treasury yields. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the plastics companies and mixed performances from the financial and technology companies.

For the day, the index eased 10.31 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 20,753.22 after trading between 20,651.88 and 20,770.83.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial jumped 1.95 percent, while Mega Financial dropped 0.86 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.31 percent, First Financial eased 0.18 percent, Fubon Financial skidded 1.16 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.37 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.61 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.32 percent, Hon Hai Precision plunged 2.91 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.73 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.72 percent, MediaTek gained 0.42 percent, Delta Electronics surrendered 2.59 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 1.49 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 1.53 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tumbled 1.89 percent, Asia Cement slumped 1.06 percent, Taiwan Cement perked 0.10 percent and China Steel lost 1.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and climbed well into the green, although the Dow failed late and ended in the red.

The Dow eased 2.43 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 38,459.08, while the NASDAQ surged 271.84 points or 1.68 percent to end at 16,442.20 and the S&P 500 added 38.42 points or 0.74 percent to close at 5,199.06.

The rally by the NASDAQ and S&P 500 seemed to coincide with the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $22 billion worth of 30-year bonds, which saw average demand.

Treasury yields pulled back off their highs following the release of the results, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving ground. The Treasury revealed below average demand for this month's three-year and 10-year note auctions earlier in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased in line with estimates in March.

Crude oil prices dropped from five-month highs on Thursday amid concerns the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for a longer period due to inflationary pressures. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended down by $1.19 at $85.02 a barrel.

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