The Taiwan stock market has finished higher now in four straight sessions, collecting more than 100 points or 1.3 percent en route to an eight-month closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange ended just above the 8,200-point plateau, although now analysts are forecasting a modest correction to the downside at the opening of trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is largely pessimistic, thanks to more weak economic data out of the United States. Property stocks are expected to see continued selling pressure, as are the financial and steel producers. The European and U.S. markets finished modestly lower, and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow the same course.
The TSE finished slightly higher on Thursday, nudged into positive territory by the technology stocks that ended mostly higher.
For the day, the index added 6.14 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 8,202.54 after trading between 8,154.97 and 8,223.22.
Among the actives, HTC added 2.65 percent and TSMC plunged 2.9 percent.
Wall Street puts forth a negative lead as stocks ended moderately lower on Thursday, with an unexpected pickup in jobless claims overshadowing better than expected readings on existing home sales and leading economic indicators. In addition, private sector growth in Europe showed a troubling slowdown, further driving a late-day pullback.
On the economic front, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims in the week ended September 18 edged up to 465,000 from the previous week's revised figured of 453,000. Jobless claims had been expected to come in unchanged compared to the 450,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Initial selling was softened a report from the National Association of Realtors showing that existing home sales rose by 7.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million in August. Economists had expected sales to rise to a rate of 4.10 million.
The Conference Board also released a separate report showing that its leading economic indicators index increased by 0.3 percent in August compared to economist estimates for a more modest increase of about 0.1 percent.
In the Eurozone, private sector activity growth slowed more than expected in September, suggesting a slowdown in economic growth in the third quarter. The Markit Flash Eurozone composite output index fell to a seven-month low of 53.8 in September from 56.2 in August. The drop marked the largest fall since November 2008. Economists had forecast a reading of 55.7. Still, the above-50 level suggests expansion.
The major averages moved to the downside late in the day, closing near their worst levels. The Dow fell by 76.89 points or 0.7 percent to 10,662.42, the NASDAQ slid by 7.47 points or 0.3 percent to 2,327.08 and the S&P 500 declined by 9.45 points or 0.8 percent to 1,124.83.
In economic news, Taiwan's jobless rate dropped slightly to a seasonally adjusted 5.11 percent in August from 5.2 percent in July, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said on Thursday. Economists were expecting the rate to be 5.13 percent.
During August, there were 574,000 unemployed in the 11.09 million-strong labor force after adjusting for seasonal variations. On an unadjusted basis, unemployment rate was 5.17 percent in August, down from 5.2 percent in July.
Manufacturing sector had the largest workforce totaling 2.9 million workers during the month, followed by wholesale and retail trade, sector, which employed 1.75 million.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.