Win Streak May Continue For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in four straight trading days, collecting almost 800 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,300-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the financials, weakness from the plastics and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index improved 33.19 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 23,300.01 after trading between 23,174.02 and 23,377.64.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.65 percent, CTBC Financial improved 0.78 percent, First Financial advanced 0.91 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.10 percent, E Sun Financial increased 0.73 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.47 percent, Hon Hai Precision rose 0.28 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.36 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.38 percent, Delta Electronics stumbled 1.29 percent, Novatek Microelectronics soared 3.60 percent, Formosa Plastics tanked 2.44 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.93 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.12 percent and Catcher Technology and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and mostly stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow soared 537.98 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 44,025.81, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.58 points or 0.64 percent to close at 19,756.78 and the S&P 500 gained 52.58 points or 0.88 percent to end at 6,049.24.

U.S. stocks were firmly in positive territory, with investors assessing the possible impact of the Trump administration's economic policies and likely tariff proposals.

Optimism about some interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, and a drop in treasury yields also contributed to market's upside.

The recent retreat by treasury yields came as the U.S. inflation data released over the past few days led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday, weighed down by Trump's plans to boost oil and gas production in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed down $1.99 or 2.56 percent at $75.89 a barrel.