Taiwan Bourse Due For Consolidation On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, accelerating almost 750 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,740-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is rudderless amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly higher again on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index gained 55.88 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 16,740.83 after trading between 16,665.40 and 16,775.23.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.33 percent, while CTBC Financial eased 0.20 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.33 percent, E Sun Financial was up 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company perked 0.18 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.82 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.94 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.93 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.27 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.93 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.63 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plummeted 4.31 percent, Formosa Plastics slipped 0.26 percent, Nan Ya Plastics added 0.31 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.12 percent, Taiwan Cement climbed 1.08 percent, China Steel sank 0.81 percent and Mega Financial and First Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher, quickly dipped into the red and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 40.33 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 34,112.27, while the NASDAQ rose 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to close at 13,650.41 and the S&P 500 perked 4.40 points or 0.10 percent to end at 4,382.78.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves following recent strength in the markets.

Amid the focus on the outlook for interest rates, traders kept a close eye on remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell - but he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy, focusing instead on praise for the work done by the Fed's Division of Research and Statistics.

Traders also shrugged off results of the Treasury Department's auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes, which attracted average demand.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December lost $2.04 or about 2.6 percent at $75.33 a barrel.