Higher Open Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 170 points or 1 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,450-point plateau and it may add to its winnings again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on an improving outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index improved 32.29 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 17,450.63 after trading between 17,404.88 and 17,528.72.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slid 0.22 percent, while Mega Financial climbed 1.03 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.73 percent, First Financial eased 0.18 percent, Fubon Financial added 0.32 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.39 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company gained 0.70 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.73 percent, Largan Precision strengthened 1.50 percent, MediaTek fell 0.21 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 3.06 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.78 percent, Formosa Plastics was down 0.38 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 1.34 percent, Asia Cement increased 0.72 percent, Taiwan Cement sank 0.73 percent, China Steel dropped 0.97 percent and Hon Hai Precision and Catcher Technology were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off a soft open, quickly moving into the green and finishing well in positive territory.

The Dow advanced 173.01 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 36,577.94, while the NASDAQ jumped 100.91 points or 0.70 percent to close at 14,533.40 and the S&P 500 gained 21.26 points or 0.46 percent to end at 4,643.70.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices inched up in line with economist estimates in November.

The data has added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking to the accompanying statement and projections for signs the central bank could begin cutting rates next year.

Crude oil prices fell to a six-month low Tuesday amid lingering concerns about the outlook for fuel demand and worries about possible oversupply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.71 or 3.8 percent at $68.61 a barrel.