Taiwan Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, rallying more than 700 points or 4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,875-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher and will be dependent on earnings news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished barely higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index perked 1.24 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 17,875.83 after trading between 17,856.34 and 17,944.98.

Among the actives, CTBC Financial lost 0.36 percent, while First Financial rose 0.38 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.78 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.16 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation and Largan Precision both advanced 0.80 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.50 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.03 percent, MediaTek soared 2.74 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 0.57 percent, Formosa Plastics and China Steel both rallied 1.41 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 0.66 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.38 percent, Taiwan Cement fell 0.31 percent and Cathay Financial, Mega Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow slipped into the red by the close.

The Dow dropped 99.06 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 37,806.39, while the NASDAQ gained 55.97 points or 0.36 percent to end at 15,481.92 and the S&P 500 perked 3.95 points or 0.08 percent to close at a fresh record high of 4,868.55.

Technology stocks helped lead the way higher in early trading on Wall Street, with shares of Netflix (NFLX) soaring by 10.7 percent after the streaming giant reported better than expected fourth quarter revenues.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, reflecting renewed interest rate concerns amid a rebound by treasury yields. Yields moved lower early in the session but bounced higher following some upbeat U.S. economic data and a disappointing five-year note auction.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on data showing a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories, while a weak dollar also contributed to the increase in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March added $0.72 or nearly 1 percent at $75.09 a barrel.