Taiwan Stock Market May Find Traction On Thursday

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in back-to-back trading days, sinking almost 70 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 17,850-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly positive, with stimulus optimism tempered by sinking crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index shed 62.38 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 17,850.69 after trading between 17,756.82 and 17,933.62.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.18 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.15 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.41 percent, First Financial fell 0.44 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.34 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation gained 0.37 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 1.29 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.13 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.27 percent, MediaTek shed 0.54 percent, Formosa Plastic dropped 0.94 percent, Asia Cement climbed 1.37 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.20 percent and Delta Electronics and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but then spent the rest of the session hugging both sides of the unchanged line before ending slightly in the green.

The Dow gained 104.42 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,681.79, while the NASDAQ rose 1.42 points or 0.01 percent to end at 14,665.06 and the S&P 500 added 14.59 points or 0.34 percent to close at 4,358.13.

The higher close on Wall Street came as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting signaled the central bank will not be in a hurry to begin scaling back its asset purchase program.

The minutes of the June meeting reiterated Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s view that “substantial further progress” towards the goals of maximum employment and price stability has not yet been met.

The Fed has repeatedly said it plans to continue to its asset purchases at a rate of at least $120 billion per month until “substantial further progress” has been made toward its goals.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday amid concerns that several leading oil producers will increase output following a disagreement over policy. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $1.17 or 1.6 percent at $72.20 a barrel.