Taiwan Stock Market Expected To Reclaim Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 600 points or 4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange new sits just above the 14,750-point plateau although it's likely to resume its upward climb on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the plastics and financials, while the technology and cement sectors were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 51.52 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 14,751.44 after trading between 14,734.44 and 14,842.74.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.72 percent, while Mega Financial dropped 0.94 percent, CTBC Financial eased 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial tumbled 1.86 percent, First Financial skidded 1.11 percent, E Sun Financial retreated 1.22 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.31 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.33 percent, Hon Hai Precision dipped 0.30 percent, Largan Precision added 0.46 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.85 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.87 percent, Delta Electronics advanced 0.88 percent, Novatek Microelectronics climbed 1.01 percent, Formosa Plastics weakened 1.12 percent, Nan Ya Plastics declined 0.67 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.12 percent and Taiwan Cement increased 0.29 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and mostly improved as the session progressed.

The Dow jumped 268.91 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 33,973.01, while the NASDAQ spiked 189.04 points or 1.76 percent to close at 10,931.67 and the S&P 500 advanced 50.36 points or 1.28 percent to end at 3,969.61.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the highly anticipated consumer price inflation report due later today.

The report is expected to show a slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth and could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on hopes for a global economic recovery and the possible impact of sanctions on Russian crude output. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February jumped by $2.29 or 3.1 percent at $77.41 a barrel, rising for a fifth straight session.