Tech Shares Likely To Boost Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 100 points or 0.5 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 19,785-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on increased optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and plastics companies, while the technology sectors were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 72.75 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 19,784.45 after trading between 19,728.43 and 19,994.42.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dropped 0.52 percent, while Mega Financial was down 0.12 percent, CTBC Financial declined 1.57 percent, First Financial sank 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.29 percent, E Sun Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation both dipped 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.52 percent, Hon Hai Precision rallied 1.47 percent, Largan Precision surged 3.84 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.70 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.74 percent, Delta Electronics slumped 1.25 percent, Novatek Microelectronics eased 0.17 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 1.47 percent, Nan Ya Plastics plunged 2.55 percent, Asia Cement added 0.37 percent, Taiwan Cement slid 0.20 percent and China Steel lost 0.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday and spent most of the day that way before a late surge boosted them firmly into the green and to record closing highs.

The Dow surged 401.37 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 39,512.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 202.62 points or 1.25 percent to end at 16,369.41 and the S&P 500 gained 46.11 points or 0.89 percent to close at 5,224.62.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged but also maintained its forecast for three rate cuts this year – which had been in some doubt.

The Fed said it again maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent, but the latest projections suggest Fed officials expect rates to be lowered to a range of 4.50 to 4.75 percent by the end of 2024.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday as traders chose to take some profits following recent gains, while a firm dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April slumped $1.79 or 2.1 percent at $81.68 a barrel.