(RTTNews) – Taiwan’s stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes over the past four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it lost nearly 90 points or 0.6% . The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,075 point plateau, although it is expected to rebound higher again on Friday.

Global forecasts for Asian markets suggest upside potential as optimism about interest rates is offset by weak crude oil prices. European markets were up and US markets were mixed and Asian markets were making a difference.

The TSE ended slightly lower on Thursday following losses in tech stocks and mixed performance in financials.

For the day, the index lost 43.30 points or 0.25% to end at 17,078.86 after trading between 17,061.46 and 17,219.65.

Among assets, Cathay Financial collected 0.52%, while Mega Financial rose 0.15%, CTBC Financial fell 0.43%, Fubon Financial fell 0.28%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.84%, United Microelectronics Corporation slipped 1.01%, Hon Hai Precision added 0.47%, Largan Precision fell 0.72%, Catcher Technology lost 0.61%, MediaTek lost 0.43%, Delta Electronics was up 2.63%, Formosa Plastic was down 1.40%, Taiwan Cement was down 0.10% and First Financial, E Sun Financial and Asia Cement were left unchanged.

Wall Street’s lead is inconsistent, as both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 opened higher and stayed that way to hit new record closing highs, while the Dow opened lower and remained in the red all over. throughout the session.

The Dow lost 33.35 points or 0.09% to close at 36,124.23, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.72 points or 0.81% to close at 15,940.31 and the S&P added 19 , 49 points or 0.42% to end at 4,680.06.

Another batch of earnings news was a big factor, as good results from chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) helped push NASDAQ up, while losses from Dow Inc. (DOW), Goldman Sachs (GS ) and Travelers (TRV) contributed to the modest decline. by the Dow Jones.

Traders also continued to respond positively to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank announcing its intention to cut back on asset purchases but signaling that it would not be in any rush to start raising rates. interest.

In economic news, the Department of Labor noted a modest drop in first claims for unemployment benefits in the United States last week. In addition, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in September.

Crude oil prices fell and stabilized at their lowest level in nearly a month on Thursday after OPEC decided to stick to its plan to modestly and gradually increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December ended down $ 2.05 or 2.5% at $ 78.81 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see October’s consumer price figures later today, with forecasts pointing to a 2.58% year-over-year increase after the 2.63% gain in September. .

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.