Taiwan Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 250 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 13,040-point plateau although the rally may stall on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial, plastic and cement stocks, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 87.46 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 13,037.21 after trading between 12,907.61 and 13,062.90.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 0.79 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.50 percent, CTBC Financial surged 3.43 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.96 percent, First Financial collected 0.61 percent, E Sun Financial increased 0.86 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.38 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dipped 0.13 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.98 percent, Largan Precision fell 0.27 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 0.88 percent, MediaTek strengthened 1.53 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.36 percent, Formosa Plastics gained 0.24 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gathered 0.59 percent, Asia Cement added 0.67 percent and Taiwan Cement rallied 1.32 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Tuesday, quickly heading south and ending in the red.

The Dow shed 79.75 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 32,653.20, while the NASDAQ dropped 97.30 points or 0.89 percent to end at 10,890.85 and the S&P 500 fell 15.88 points or 0.41 percent to close at 3,856.10.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as traders wished to consolidate their positions ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points, but traders have expressed optimism the central bank will signal plans to slow the pace of rate hikes at upcoming meetings.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a jump in U.S. job openings in September, while the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight increase in U.S. manufacturing activity in October. Also, the Commerce Department said construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly increased in October.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on a weak dollar, a reduction in OPEC crude output, an upward revision in oil demand forecast by OPEC, and record U.S. oil export data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December jumped $1.84 or 2.1 percent at $88.37 a barrel.