Tech Shares May Lift Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 1,060 points or 3.4 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange sits just above the 32,310-point plateau and it's tipped to at least open in the green again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, boosted by gains from the oil, gold and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to higher and the overbought Asian bourses may see mild upside - although they may see profit taking later in the day.

The TSE finished modestly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the technology stocks, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index expanded 253.40 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 32,317.92 after trading between 26,829.71 and 27,188.90.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial retreated 1.56 percent. while Mega Financial fell 0.25 percent, CTBC Financial shed 0.39 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 0.86 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.15 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company vaulted 1.42 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 9.96 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.67 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.61 percent, Catcher Technology slumped 0.97 percent, MediaTek rose 0.28 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.63 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slipped 0.25 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 4.51 percent, Nan Ya Plastics stumbled 2.57 percent, Asia Cement declined 1.39 percent and First Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 407.72 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 49,004.68, while the NASDAQ jumped 215.74 points or 0.91 percent to close at 23,817.10 and the S&P 500 added 30.82 points or 0.44 percent to end at 6,981.05.

The strength in the broader markets came as traders remain optimistic ahead of the release of earnings news from big-name tech companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Meta Platforms (META).

Traders were also cautious ahead of the monetary policy announcement from the Federal Reserve later today. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board reported a significant deterioration in consumer confidence in January - hitting its lowest level since May 2014,.

Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday as U.S. naval forces have started building up near Iran, while Lebanese and Yemeni militias have pledged support to Iran, leading to a heightening of tensions. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.61 or 2.66 percent at $62.24 per barrel.