Tech Rally May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had given up almost 450 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,400-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the finance, technology and cement sectors were limited by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index gained 116.83 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 23,402.55 after trading between 23,156.02 and 23,431.24.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial and First Financial both strengthened 1.27 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.32 percent, Fubon Financial rallied 1.20 percent, E Sun Financial accelerated 1.52 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.47 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation gained 0.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.69 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.10 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.72 percent, MediaTek rose 0.65 percent, Delta Electronics increased 1.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.36 percent, Formosa Plastics tumbled 1.73 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.16 percent and Asia Cement was up 0.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.