FX.co ★ Taiwan Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Monday

The Taiwan stock market has ended on a high note for three consecutive sessions, gaining over 700 points or 3.3%. As of now, the Taiwan Stock Exchange stands just above the 22,500-point mark, although this rally may encounter a pause on Monday.

The forecast for Asian markets remains uncertain due to mixed signals regarding interest rates. European markets showed a significant decline, while U.S. markets were mixed with little overall change, suggesting that Asian markets may follow a similar pattern.

On Friday, the TSE saw modest gains thanks to positive performances from financial sectors, technology stocks, and plastic and cement companies. The index surged 192.68 points or 0.86%, closing at the day's high of 22,504.72, after touching a low of 22,252.02.

Among the active stocks, Cathay Financial and E Sun Financial both saw a 0.17% increase, Mega Financial rose by 0.25%, CTBC Financial and First Financial each climbed 0.54%, and Fubon Financial went up by 0.92%. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.33%, United Microelectronics Corporation dipped 0.18%, Hon Hai Precision spiked 3.12%, Largan Precision soared 5.88%, Catcher Technology increased 1.10%, MediaTek went up by 0.72%, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 0.99%, Formosa Plastics gained 0.66%, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 1.20%, Asia Cement collected 0.36%, Taiwan Cement increased 1.64%, China Steel fell 0.21%, and Delta Electronics remained unchanged.

Wall Street presented a mixed picture, as major averages opened sharply lower on Friday but managed to rally later to end the day relatively flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 57.94 points or 0.15% to close at 38,589.16, while the NASDAQ rose 21.32 points or 0.12%, setting a new record at 17,688.88. The S&P 500 dipped 2.14 points or 0.04%, ending at 5,431.60.

Over the week, the NASDAQ surged 3.2%, the S&P 500 advanced 1.6%, and the Dow dropped 0.5%. Early session trading saw investors capitalizing on recent market strengths, but selling pressures eased after the Labor Department reported unexpected decreases in U.S. import and export prices for May.

Despite the Federal Reserve's forecast of just one rate cut this year following the week's monetary policy meeting, traders remain optimistic that these predictions might prove overly conservative, especially if inflation continues to decelerate in the coming months.

Oil futures, which had a four-day winning streak, settled lower on Friday due to a rise in U.S. crude inventories and the impact of a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July fell by $0.17, or approximately 0.22%, settling at $78.45 a barrel. Despite this decline, WTI crude futures recorded a nearly 4% gain for the week.