Taiwan Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 130 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,370-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets expect to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index rose 29.31 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 17,370.56 after trading between 17,323.27 and 17,441.79.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.54 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.26 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 1.10 percent, First Financial fell 0.36 percent, Fubon Financial was down 0.31 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.58 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company eased 0.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.31 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.49 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.25 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.03 percent, MediaTek added 0.64 percent, Delta Electronics lost 0.47 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 1.99 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 0.73 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 0.29 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.24 percent, Taiwan Cement dropped 0.72 percent and China Steel gained 0.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.44 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 35,430.42, while the NASDAQ slid 23.27 points or 0.16 percent to close at 14,258.49 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.31 points or 0.09 percent to end at 4,550.58.

Stocks saw early strength amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates, also riding a surge by shares of General Motors (GM) after the auto giant announced a $10 billion stock buyback and increased dividend.

Buying interest waned as the day has progress, however, with traders looking ahead to the release of key inflation readings later today.

Crude oil showed another strong move to the upside on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session ahead of a key OPEC meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery jumped $1.45 or 1.9 percent to $77.86 a barrel.