Tech Shares Likely To Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back trading days, advancing more than 220 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,740-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, plastics, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index jumped 191.90 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 17,740.56 after trading between 17,572.90 and 17,770.07.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial advanced 0.94 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.60 percent, CTBC Financial gained 0.69 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.20 percent, First Financial gathered 1.27 percent, E Sun Financial spiked 1.70 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.87 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation, strengthened 1.49 percent, Largan Precision rallied 2.14 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.69 percent, MediaTek rose 0.33 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.75 percent, Formosa Plastic gained 0.95 percent, Nan Ya Plastics accelerated 1.08 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.21 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.10 percent and Hon Hai Precision was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the entire day in the red.

The Dow shed 65.38 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,228.81, while the NASDAQ tumbled 177.36 points or 1.21 percent to end at 14,442.27 and the S&P 500 lost 29.15 points or 0.63 percent to close at 4,602.45.

The major U.S. averages ended lower Wednesday on news that Russia has continued to shell certain areas of Ukraine despite having promised to scale down military operations on Tuesday.

Rising worries about inflation and imminent aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve also weighed on sentiment.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. climbed more than expected in March. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew slightly less than estimated in Q4 2021.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. inventories last week, and amid a lack of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $3.58 or 3.4 percent at $107.82 a barrel.