The Taiwan stock market has closed lower now in three straight trading days, falling more than 55 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange finished just above the 7,835-point plateau, but now investors are anticipating a positive bounce when the market kicks off trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly positive, thanks to better than expected employment data from the United States. Financials and pharmaceuticals are expected to provide support, although gold, property and airline stocks may weigh. The European and U.S. markets finished in positive territory, and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday, dragged to the downside by weakness from the construction, food and financial sectors.
For the day, the index eased 15.77 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 7,835.54 after trading between 7,817.87 and 7,903.47 on turnover of 118.39 billion Taiwan dollars. There were 2,273 decliners and 1,391 gainers, with 338 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Oceanic Beverages shed 6.93 percent, while Evergreen Marine lost 4.42 percent, Prince Housing was down 1.95 percent, MediaTek declined 1.18 percent and AU Optronics added 3.44 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks ended Thursday's session with modest gains, as jobless claims fell by more than forecast - although dark clouds from the European financial crisis limited the upside.
Initial upside in the markets came after data from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims fell to 451,000 in the week ended September 4th from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000.
Economists had only been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 470,000 from the 472,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since falling to a nearly two-year low of 427,000 in the week ended July 7, although they remain at a relatively high level.
Stocks came off their highs in mid-afternoon trading following reports that Deutsche Bank (DB), Germany's largest bank, is mulling a share offering in order to raise roughly $11 billion in additional capital. The news served as a reminder of the continued turmoil among Europe's financial institutions.
The major averages saw some downside in late-session dealing but managed to end the day above the unchanged line. The Dow edged up by 28.23 points or 0.3 percent to end at 10,415.24, the NASDAQ rose by 7.33 points or 0.3 percent to 2,236.20 and the S&P 500 advanced by 5.31 points or 0.5 percent to 1,104.18.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.