Taiwan Stock Market May Crack Resistance At 46,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, surging more than 1,900 points or 4 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange sits just above the 45,550-point plateau and it may see additional support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly positive on hopes for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index added 219.40 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 45,557.31 after trading between 44,869.38 and 45,915.92.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.13 percent, while Mega Financial added 0.60 percent, First Financial collected 1.44 percent, Fubon Financial vaulted 2.71 percent, E Sun Financial accelerated 2.38 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 1.06 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 3.08 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 2.73 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.39 percent, Catcher Technology skyrocketed 9.84 percent, MediaTek shed 0.66 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 2.48 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.11 percent, Formosa Plastics jumped 1.80 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 4.65 percent and Asia Cement and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages were able to shake off early weakness and find modest gains on Tuesday, with all three hitting record closing highs for the third day in a row.

The Dow added 228.91 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 51,307.79, while the NASDAQ rose 7.09 points or 003 percent to close at 27,093.90 and the S&P 500 added 9.86 points or 0.13 percent to end at 7,609.82.

Stocks had benefitted from optimism for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict in the past few sessions, but differing accounts from U.S. President Donald Trump and the Israelian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dampened hopes. A rebound by the price of crude oil also limited the upside.

Crude oil prices jumped on Tuesday as the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding has been delayed. Also, global energy watchdogs warn of accelerating crude oil inventory depletion. West Texas Intermediate crude for July was up $1.57 or 1.70 percent at $93.73 per barrel.

While uncertainty about the situation in the Middle East has kept some traders on the sidelines, optimism about the AI trade continues to generate positive sentiment on Wall Street.