Taiwan Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 180 points or 1.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 14,740-point plateau although it's likely to slide back into the red on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index jumped 216.40 points or 1.49 percent to finish at the daily high of 14,739.36 after trading as low as 14,557.56.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial eased 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial increased 1.30 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.88 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.17 percent, First Financial gained 1.35 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 1.86 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.91 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation strengthened 1.48 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 1.49 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.20 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 1.45 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.27 percent, Delta Electronics gathered 1.37 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surged 3.89 percent, China Steel fell 0.34 percent, Formosa Plastics added 1.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 1.79 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.12 percent and Taiwan Cement shed 0.59 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and stayed that way before tumbling after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The Dow dropped 142.29 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,966.35, while the NASDAQ sank 85.93 points or 0.76 percent to close at 11,170.89 and the S&P 500 lost 24.33 points or 0.61 percent to end at 3,995.32.

The lower close on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to slow the pace of interest rate increases but still signaled further rate hikes ahead.

After raising interest rates by 75 basis points at four consecutive meetings, the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points to a target range of 4.25 to 4.50 percent.

But the central bank reiterated that it anticipates ongoing increases in rates will be appropriate. The economic projections provided along with the announcement now suggest the Fed expects rates to be raised higher than forecast in September.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, lifted by an upward revision in demand forecast by the International Energy Agency due to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $77.28 a barrel.

Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan will announce its decision on interest rates later today; the bank is expected to increase its benchmark lending rate from 1.625 percent to 1.75 percent.