The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 200 points or 1.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,300-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed to higher on Covid-19 vaccine rollouts and hopes for stimulus. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains across the board - especially from the financials and technology stocks.
For the day, the index soared 235.94 points or 1.68 percent to finish at 14,304.46 after trading between 14,145.24 and 14,339.50.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial and Fubon Financial both gained 1.09 percent, while Mega Financial perked 1.20 percent, CTBC Financial added 1.30 percent, First Financial collected 0.73 percent, E Sun Financial jumped 1.61 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.59 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.05 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 1.26 percent, Largan Precision spiked 3.10 percent, Catcher Technology accelerated 2.28 percent, Formosa Plastic gathered 1.12 percent, Asia Cement soared 2.10 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 1.29 percent and MediaTek was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks showed a lack of direction Wednesday before ending mixed, although the tech-heavy NASDAQ hit a new record closing high.
The Dow shed 44.77 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 30,154.54, while the NASDAQ jumped 63.13 points or 0.50 percent to end at 12,658.19 and the S&P 500 rose 6.55 points or 0.18 percent to close at 3,701.17.
The mixed close on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged while also revealing plans to continue its asset purchase program until the economy shows substantial progressed towards the central bank's goals of maximum employment and price stability.
Earlier in the day, traders were reluctant to make significant moves as they weighed optimism about a new fiscal stimulus bill against disappointing retail sales data. Traders have remained optimistic that lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement even though a deal on a new relief package has remained beyond their grasp for months.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said that retail sales slumped much more than expected in November. Also, the National Association of Home Builders reported that homebuilder confidence pulled back more than expected in December after reaching a record high in November.
Crude oil prices climbed Wednesday for a third straight session amid vaccine rollouts and optimism about fiscal stimulus in the U.S. A drop in crude inventories in the U.S. last week also contributed to oil's rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up $0.20 or 0.4 percent at $47.82 a barrel.
Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan is expected to announce its decision on interest rates later today, with forecast calling it unchanged at 1.125 percent.
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