Higher Open Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

Ahead of Friday's holiday for National Day, the Taiwan stock market had climbed higher in seven straight sessions, surging more than 640 points or 5.1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 12,750-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Monday - although it's overdue for some profit taking.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with optimism for stimulus tempered by weakness from the oil markets. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following huge gains from the technology stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index jumped 140.79 points or 1.10 percent to finish at the daily high of 12,887.19 after moving as low as 12,818.01.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.39 percent, while Mega Financial was up 0.18 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.24 percent, First Financial gained 0.48 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.98 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.26 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 9.15 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.78 percent, Largan Precision accelerated 4.97 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.84 percent, MediaTek spiked 3.55 percent, Formosa Plastic rose 0.25 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.24 percent and Taiwan Cement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as stocks opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session to finish higher for the third straight day.

The Dow climbed 161.40 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 28,586.90, while the NASDAQ spiked 158.94 points or 1.39 percent to end at 11,579.94 and the S&P 500 jumped 30.30 points or 0.88 percent to close at 3,477.13. For the week, the Dow surged 3.8 percent, the NASDAQ spiked 4.6 percent and the S&P gained 3.3 percent.

Continued optimism about a new stimulus bill contributed to the strength on Wall Street, as traders kept a close eye on the latest developments in Washington. The major averages spiked after President Donald Trump suggested he was once again in favor of a broad relief package.

Trump's comments came amid reports that the White House was planning to offer a $1.8 trillion package, which is up from the administration's previous $1.6 trillion proposal but still below the $2.2 trillion bill passed by House Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill later said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had "returned to the table with a proposal that attempted to address some of the concerns Democrats have."

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Friday as traders made largely cautious moves, weighing demand and supply positions in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November were lower by $0.59 or 1.4 percent at $40.60 a barrel.