Tech Shares Likely To Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 180 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,520-point plateau although it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement and plastics companies.

For the day, the index lost 89.63 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 14,522.96 after trading between 14,515.74 and 14,658.70.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial eased 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial skidded 1.12 percent, CTBC Financial retreated 1.87 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.17 percent, First Financial stumbled 1.52 percent, E Sun Financial surrendered 1.43 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sank 0.74 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.98 percent, Largan Precision fell 0.45 percent, Catcher Technology slumped 0.86 percent, MediaTek lost 0.42 percent, Delta Electronics declined 0.68 percent, China Steel gained 0.52 percent, Formosa Plastics was down 0.46 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 0.95 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.24 percent and Taiwan Cement slid 0.44 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday, faded as the day progressed but still finished in the green.

The Dow climbed 103.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,108.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 113.08 points or 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,019.65.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in November.

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant beats ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, with traders likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week, while a weak dollar also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or 3 percent at $75.39 a barrel.