Taiwan Shares Due For Profit Taking On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 300 points or 1.3 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,350-point plateau and it may spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, as investors wait to see if there's any slowdown in the Iran/Israel conflict. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were limited by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index gained 145.14 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 22,356.73 after trading between 22,104.68 and 22,370.25.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.33 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.37 percent, First Financial improved 0.71 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.86 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.63 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.96 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation strengthened 1.68 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 0.65 percent, Catcher Technology increased 0.24 percent, MediaTek climbed 0.78 percent, Delta Electronics expanded 1.39 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 1.35 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics sank 0.87 percent, Asia Cement dropped 0.82 percent and CTBC Financial and Largan Precision were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Wednesday's trade in positive territory before turning lower and ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 44.14 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 42,171.66, while the NASDAQ rose 25.18 points or 0.13 percent to close at 19,546.27 and the S&P 500 eased 1.85 points or 0.03 percent to end at 5,980.87.

The lackluster day on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed officials still seem to expect to two interest rate cuts this year, lowering the rate to a range of 4.0 percent to 3.75 percent by the end of 2025.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits edged modestly lower last week. Also, the Commerce Department saw a steep drop by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of May.

Crude oil price ticked higher on Wednesday as the Israel-Iran conflict, which began with Israeli airstrikes on June 12, entered the sixth straight day with casualties increasing on both sides. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose by $0.30 to settle at $75.15 per barrel.

Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.00 percent.