Taiwan Shares May Tick Higher Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, rallying more than 700 points or 4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,870-point plateau and it may see continued if mild upside on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is erratic and seemingly at the mercy of quarterly earnings, which have varied greatly so far this earnings season. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index rose 59.49 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 17,874.59 after trading between 17,801.89 and 17,893.73.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial gained 0.80 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.66 percent, CTBC Financial fell 0.35 percent, First Financial rose 0.38 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.11 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.41 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.32 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dipped 0.20 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.10 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.62 percent, Catcher Technology plunged 2.76 percent, MediaTek skidded 1.19 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.86 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 0.97 percent, Formosa Plastics gathered 0.71 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 1.34 percent, Asia Cement increased 0.51 percent, Taiwan Cement strengthened 1.24 percent and China Steel perked 0.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and closed the same way.

The Dow sank 96.36 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,905.45, while the NASDAQ added 65.66 points or 0.43 percent to close at 15,425.94 and the S&P 500 rose 14.17 points or 0.29 percent to end at a fresh record of 4,864.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected a mixed reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies.

The Dow pulled back off Monday's record closing high amid a steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM), which offered disappointing guidance. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) also slumped despite reporting better than expected results.

Meanwhile, shares of telecom giant Verizon (VZ) and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) surged after reporting better than expected earnings news.

Crude oil futures eased Tuesday amid uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand and after Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield, which was shut for two weeks due to protests. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $74.37 a barrel.