Taiwan Bourse May Be Stuck In Neutral

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,480-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be cloudy thanks to soft economic data and a mild rebound in crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat, and the Asian markets are tipped to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday as the technology stocks were mostly in the green, while the financials and cement stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index advanced 23.72 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 10,481.26 after trading between 10,429.85 and 10,481.26 on turnover of 95.95 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.47 percent, while Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.30 percent, AU Optronics perked 2.43 percent, Largan Precision surged 4.61 percent, MediaTek dropped 1.38 percent, Formosa Chemicals shed 0.43 percent, Taiwan Cement picked up 0.28 percent, Asia Cement skidded 1.85 percent, Cathay Financial fell 0.71 percent, Mega Financial collected 0.59 percent and Woori Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks continued to be lackluster on Tuesday as traders expressed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets.

The Dow fell 54.99 points or 0.3 percent to 21,574.73, while the NASDAQ climbed 29.87 points or 0.5 percent to 6,344.31 and the S&P added 1.47 points or 0.1 percent to 2,460.61.

In economic news, homebuilder confidence unexpectedly declined in July, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Also, the Labor Department said that import prices fell in line with estimates in June, while export prices came in slightly lower.

Crude oil futures continued to rally Tuesday amid reports that Saudi Arabia will sharply cut oil output in defiance of fellow OPEC members. August WTI oil settled at $46.40/bbl, up 38 cents or 0.8 percent as prices rallied despite predictions that U.S. output will remain robust. A weak U.S. dollar also boosted commodities.