Rebound Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had slipped more than 270 points or 1.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 23,450-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over earnings, with tech shares likely to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financial and plastics companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 213.23 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 23,447.36 after trading between 23,433.53 and 23,557.49.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.35 percent, while CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial both added 0.48 percent, First Financial increased 0.82 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.77 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 0.81 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.45 percent, Catcher Technology slumped 1.61 percent, MediaTek declined 1.49 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.74 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 2.97 percent, Formosa Plastics spiked 2.54 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 1.36 percent, Asia Cement added 0.62 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly turned higher and spent the balance of the session in the green.

The Dow improved 81.38 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 44,193.12, while the NASDAQ rallied 252.87 points or 1.21 percent to end at 21,169.42 and the S&P 500 gained 45.87 points or 0.73 percent to close at 6,345.06.

Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the markets higher following reports the company will announce plans to invest $100 billion to expand its U.S. operations and increase its total investment in the U.S. over the next four years to $600 billion.

Stocks also benefitted from strong earnings news from companies like McDonald's (MCD), which reported second quarter results that exceeded estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Shopify (SHOP) also beat the street.

On the other hand, Super Micro Computer (SMCI), social media platform Snap (SNAP) and Disney (DIS) reported mixed third quarter results.

Crude oil lost early gains on Wednesday as Russia faces a threat of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports after August 8 if it fails to end its attempt to annex Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.96 or 1.47 percent at $64.20 per barrel.