Tech Shares May Fuel Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 500 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 24,100-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to lead the way. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move to the upside.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and cement companies, while the financials were mixed and the plastics were soft.

For the day, the index jumped 83.52 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 24,100.30 after trading between 23,925.49 and 24,103.23.

Among the actives, CTBC Financial fell 0.24 percent, while First Financial collected 0.70 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 0.92 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.15 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.01 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.85 percent, Catcher Technology improved 1.08 percent, MediaTek rallied 2.57 percent, Delta Electronics sank 0.73 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.23 percent, Formosa Plastics shed 0.79 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.50 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.28 percent and Cathay Financial, Mega Financial, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the line and finished the same way.

The Dow slipped 24.58 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 45,271.23, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.10 points or 1.02 percent to end at 21,497.73 and the S&P 500 added 32.72 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,448.26.

The notable rebound by the NASDAQ followed a surge by shares of Alphabet (GOOGL), which rallied after a federal judge ruled the company will avoid the most severe consequences in a landmark antitrust case.

The strength on Wall Street also came after the Labor Department released a report showing job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in 10 months in July.

While the data provides further signs of softening labor market conditions, the report has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid increasing concerns of oversupply due to reported plans by OPEC to boost output at its upcoming meeting on Sunday. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $1.65 or 2.52 percent at $63.94 per barrel.