Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 600 points or 2.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 27,275-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid rising tensions between the world's two largest economies. The European markets were mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and plastics companies.

For the day, the index jumped 482.56 points or 1.80 percent to finish at the daily high of 27,275.71 after moving as low as 26,773.15.

Among the actives, Mega Financial dipped 0.24 percent, while First Financial eased 0.17 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.59 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.46 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.81 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.78 percent, Hon Hai Precision rose 0.24 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.89 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.12 percent, MediaTek gained 0.77 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 2.32 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.25 percent, Formosa Plastics dropped 0.94 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 0.75 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.41 percent and Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but slumped midday and finished mixed.

The Dow dipped 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 46,253.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 148.38 points or 0.66 percent to end at 22,670.08 and the S&P 500 added 26.75 points or 0.40 percent to close at 6,671.06.

The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat earnings news against concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and lingering worries about valuations.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said New York manufacturing activity has seen a significant turnaround in October. Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book said economic activity in the U.S. has shown little change since early September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.