The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day losing streak in which it had surrendered more than 720 points or 6.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,550-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with investors likely to remain skittish following heavy losses earlier this week. A steep drop in crude oil adds to the weak sentiment. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down - and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and the technology stocks.
For the day, the index jumped 147.54 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 10,551.54 after trading between 10,547.64 and 10,697.82 on turnover of 173.54 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.42 percent, while AU Optronics advanced 3.91 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 0.90 percent, Innolux perked 2.75 percent, Largan Precision surged 6.87 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 4.45 percent, Cathay Financial spiked 3.74 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 2.03 percent, Mega Financial collected 0.42 percent, Taiwan Steel Union added 1.47 percent and China Steel was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks spent much of the day in positive territory before fizzling at the end to finish in the red.
The Dow shed 19.42 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 24,893.35, while the NASDAQ lost 63.90 points or 0.90 percent and the S&P 500 fell 13.49 points or 0.50 percent to 2,681.65.
Monday's sell-off was the worst single-day point decline in the Dow's history. Wednesday's lack of direction suggests that stocks remain overbought after a recent rally powered by tax breaks. The specter of a government shutdown also rattled investors.
Traders digested mixed remarks from Federal Reserve officials on a day bereft of economic news.
An increase in consumer prices could warrant as many as four rate hikes by year's end, said Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans. But Fed New York President William Dudley said the recent downturn in the stock market does not change the outlook for interest rates.
Crude oil futures fell sharply Wednesday, extending a recent slump after data showed U.S. oil inventories dropped for a second week in a row. March WTI oil settled at $61.79/bbl, down $1.60 or 2.5 percent - the lowest in a month.
by RTT Staff Writer
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