Taiwan Shares Expected To Open To The Upside On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 400 points or 1.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 23,320-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for trade deals. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks, plastics companies and cement issues.

For the day, the index jumped 330.75 points or 1.44 percent to finish at the daily high of 23,318.67 after trading as low as 23,063.57.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.47 percent, Fubon Financial strengthened 1.58 percent, E Sun Financial shed 0.45 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 1.33 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation spiked 2.09 percent, Hon Hai Precision accelerated 2.47 percent, Largan Precision plunged 3.08 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.47 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.36 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 1.33 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 3.21 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed 9.90 percent, Asia Cement rallied 2.89 percent and CTBC Financial, First Financial and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened with modest gains on Wednesday but continued to climb as the day progressed, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 507.85 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 45,010.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 127.33 points or 0.61 percent to close at a record 21,020.02 and the S&P 500 gained 49.29 points or 0.78 percent to end at 6,358.91, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced trade deals with Japan and the Philippines.

The announcement of these trade deals spurred expectations of further trade agreements as the Aug. 1 deadline nears.

On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales in the U.S. pulled back by more than expected in the month of June.

Crude oil prices dipped slightly on Wednesday as uncertainty persists in U.S. trade talks ahead of the deadline. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery eased $0.06 to $65.25 per barrel.