Higher Open Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 1,300 points or 3.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 33,450-point plateau and it's expected to pick up steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing oil prices and some optimism for a ceasefire 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 sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index soared 826.87 points or 2.54 percent to finish at 33,439.11 after trading between 32,725.27 and 33,705.75.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.77 percent, while First Financial added 0.53 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.95 percent, E Sun Financial strengthened 1.74 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, United Microelectronics Corporation vaulted 1.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision soared 4.60 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.89 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.53 percent, Delta Electronics skyrocketed 9.54 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.03 percent, Formosa Plastics expanded 1.33 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 5.12 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.58 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and spent the whole day in the green.

The Dow jumped 305.43 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 46,429.49, while the NASDAQ climbed 167.93 points or 0.77 percent to end at 21.929.83 and the S&P 500 gained 35.53 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,591.90.

The early strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slumping by 1.7 percent after surging in the previous session.

Crude oil prices slumped Wednesday on reports of negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, easing transport concerns via the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $2.22 or 2.40 percent at $90.13 per barrel.

However, buying interest was partly offset by a report from Iran's state-linked media Fars News Agency claiming Iran will not accept the ceasefire offer from the U.S.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said U.S. import and export prices increased by much more than expected in February.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see February unemployment data later today; in January, the jobless rate was 3.36 percent.