Win Streak May End For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 1,000 points or 3 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 34,350-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology and plastics companies, although the financial shares were soft.

For the day, the index jumped 512.01 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 34,348.58 after trading between 33,929.28 and 34,423.66.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.63 percent, First Financial lost 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.33 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 1.87 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.66 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.94 percent, Largan Precision vaulted 1.67 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.53 percent, Delta Electronics strengthened 1.74 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.39 percent, Formosa Plastics jumped 1.83 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 0.82 percent, Asia Cement fell 0.29 percent and MediaTek and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.

The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.

Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell said the U.S. is seeing "some progress on inflation" but "not as much as we had hoped." While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that "you won't see the rate cut" if there isn't further progress on inflation.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Taiwan will conclude its monetary policy meeting later today and announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.00 percent.