The Taiwan stock market on Friday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 140 points or 1.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,690-point plateau and the gains may accelerate on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing trade war fears and a bump in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses moved higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financial and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index added 7.06 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 10,690.96 after trading between 10,688.55 and 10,757.01 on turnover of 126.64 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.21 percent, while United Microelectronics Corporation gained 0.29 percent, Hon Hai Precision dipped 0.12 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.77 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.99 percent, MediaTek dipped 0.20 percent, Quanta Computer jumped 1.56 percent, AsusTek Computer climbed 1.45 percent, AU Optronics spiked 2.34 percent, Asia Cement soared 3.39 percent, Formosa Plastic perked 0.46 percent, Cathay Financial collected 0.58 percent, CTBC Financial added 0.95 percent, Fubon Financial picked up 0.40 percent, Mega Financial advanced 0.79 percent and Chunghwa Telecom was up 0.47 percent.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as stocks moved mostly higher on Friday after recovering from an early move to the downside.
The Dow climbed 110.59 points or 0.43 percent to 25,669.32, the NASDAQ added 9.81 points or 0.13 percent to 7,816.33 and the S&P 500 rose 9.44 points or 0.33 percent to 2,850.13. For the week, the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent, the S&P gained 0.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.4 percent.
Late-day buying interest was generated by reports that Chinese and U.S. negotiators are drawing up a road map for talks to try to end their trade impasse. The trade talks in Washington are set for Tuesday and Wednesday, just before the next round of tariffs on both sides kicks in on Thursday.
In economic news, the University of Michigan saw deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in August. Also the Conference Board noted a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in July.
Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday amid hopes that trade talks between U.S. and China this week will diffuse tensions and reduce fears of a decline in fuel demand. Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.45 or 0.7 percent at $65.91 a barrel.
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