Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 450 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 27,750-point plateau although it's likely to run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with optimism over earnings likely offset by profit taking. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were limited by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index added 63.78 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 27,752.41 after trading between 27,742.55 and 27,969.05.

Among the actives, Mega Financial was up 0.12 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.16 percent, First Financial increased 0.35 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.62 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.41 percent, Hon Hai Precision perked 0.21 percent, Largan Precision rallied 2.04 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.51 percent, Delta Electronics added 0.49 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.72 percent, Formosa Plastics skidded 1.03 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.36 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.27 percent and MediaTek, Cathay Financial, Fubon Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat on Tuesday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally finishing on opposite sides and little changed.

The Dow gained 218.16 points or 0.47 percent to finish at a record 46,924.74, while the NASDAQ slipped 36.88 points or 0.16 percent to end at 22,953.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to close at 6,735.35.

The advanced by the Dow reflected a positive reaction to solid earnings news from companies like 3M (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO), Salesforce (CRM), Amazon (AMZN) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW).

Traders may have been reluctant to continue buying stocks amid lingering concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and the ongoing government shutdown.

A lack of major U.S. economic data due in part to the shutdown may also have kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Friday.

Crude oil prices advanced on Tuesday as easing U.S.-China trade friction overrode a stronger greenback and excess supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.38 or 0.66 percent at $57.90 per barrel.