Taiwan Shares Tipped To Open In The Red On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, jumping more than 2,750 points or 6 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 45,875-point plateau although it's likely to see profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative 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 follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the finance and plastics sectors, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index rose 68.20 points or 0.15 percent to finish at the daily high of 45,877.39 after trading as low as 45,159.51.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rallied 3.65 percent, while Mega Financial collected 1.35 percent, CTBC Financial rose 0.28 percent, First Financial jumped 2.20 percent, Fubon Financial spiked 2.65 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.85 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.63 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 0.71 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.12 percent, Largan Precision soared 5.86 percent, MediaTek tumbled 2.19 percent, Delta Electronics cratered 3.36 percent, Novatek Microelectronics vaulted 3.00 percent, Formosa Plastics expanded 2.57 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed by the 10 percent daily limit, Asia Cement eased 0.14 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line before tumbling after the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The Dow dropped 507.12 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 51,492.55, while the NASDAQ slumped 354.69 points or 1.34 percent to close at 26,021.66 and the S&P 500 sank 91.25 points or 1.21 percent to end at 7,420.10.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after the Fed left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but projections suggest that rates could be higher by end of the year.

The Fed noted that inflation remains elevated relative to the Fed's 2 percent goal, in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of May.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday as energy experts remain skeptical of an early restoration of normal oil trade in the gulf region despite the upcoming U.S.-Iran deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.45 or 0.59 percent at $76.50 per barrel.

Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan will announce its decision on interest rates later today; no change is expected from the current 2.00 percent.