Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 480 points or 3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,420-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with gains likely limited by profit taking from the oil and technology sectors. 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 Tuesday following gains from the cement companies, weakness from the plastics and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index perked 3,27 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 15,420.57 after trading between 15,392.49 and 15,451.83.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.42 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.56 percent, CTBC Financial advanced 1.24 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.17 percent, First Financial dipped 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.38 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.03 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.89 percent, Largan Precision strengthened 1.69 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.43 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.55 percent, Formosa Plastics was down 0.11 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.28 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.36 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.13 percent and MediaTek was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the unchanged line, rallied mid-day but still finished the same way.

The Dow jumped 239.57 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 34,152.01, while the NASDAQ fell 25.50 points or 0.19 percent to close at 13,102.55 and the S&P 500 rose 8.06 points or 0.19 percent to end at 4,305.20.

The continued advance by the Dow was partly due to strong gains by Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) after both companies reported better than expected second quarter results.

Buying interest may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in July.

Traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing new residential construction tumbled by much more than expected last month.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on worries about the outlook for energy demand and on a potential increase in supply from OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $2.88 or 3.2 percent at $86.53 a barrel.