Rally May Stall For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 220 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,620-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology and cement stocks, while the financials and plastics were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 217.26 points or 1.41 percent to finish at 15,618.17 after trading between 15,520.05 and 15,631.22.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial dipped 0.31 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.45 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.34 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.41 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 3.25 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.75 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.90 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.80 percent, MediaTek surged 3.77 percent, Novatek Microelectronics skyrocketed 7.14 percent, Formosa Plastics improved 0.45 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.80 percent, Asia Cement increased 0.36 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.27 percent and Hon Hai Precision, Delta Electronics, First Financial and China Steel were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 207.68 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 33,949.01, while the NASDAQ plunged 203.27 points or 1.68 percent to close at 11,910.52 and the S&P 500 sank 46.14 points or 1.11 percent to end at 4,117.86.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in Tuesday's gains, which came amid a positive reaction to comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell acknowledged recent indications of easing inflation but noted that the disinflationary process has a long way to go and cautioned further interest rate hikes could be needed.

The positive sentiment generated in reaction to Powell's comments was partly offset by remarks by New York Fed President John Williams, who said interest rates may need to be kept at an elevated level for a few years to bring down inflation.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third straight session amid hopes of higher demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.33 or 1.7 percent at $78.47 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release January figures for consumer and wholesale prices later today; in December, consumer prices were up 0.33 percent on month and 2.71 percent on year, while wholesale prices jumped an annual 7.14 percent.