Share prices closed 0.38 percent higher yesterday, building on Thursday's gains as bargain-hunting in the key electronics sector offset early losses due to Wall Street's overnight downturn, dealers said.
Pick-up
The pick-up, however, came in cautious trade as the market waited for the key US march employment report due out later in the day for a clear lead on the outlook for US interest rates and the US dollar.
The TAIEX closed up 22.87 points at 6,028.75, on turnover of NT$74.43 billion (US$2.36 billion). Declines led gainers 524 to 371, with 123 stocks unchanged.
Turnover falls
For the week to yesterday, the weighted index dropped 23.16 points or 0.38 percent after a 0.36 percent gain the previous week. Average daily turnover fell to NT$63.81 billion from NT$64.60 billion.
"Investors are not likely to trade actively until the quarterly results are made public later this month," said Bentham Hung (洪永聰) of Fuh-Hwa Securities Investment and Trust Co (復華投信).
Interest in the results will be keener as they will be the first under new tighter accounting rules while how the New Taiwan dollar trades will also be a major factor, Hung said.
Expectations
Share prices are expected to trade within a narrow 200-points range next week, dealers said.
Daneil Hsin of Capital Securities Corp put next week's trading range at 5,950-6,100 points, noting that the "downside would be limited ... There is very strong support at ... around 5,900 points."
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