Taiwan Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had surrendered more than 320 points or 3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,325-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive, thanks to proposed tax reform in the United States and a bump in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, technology stocks and steel producers.

For the day, the index jumped 69.66 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 10,326.68 after trading between 10,315.97 and 10,357.23 on turnover of 108.16 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.62 percent, while Fubon Financial was up 0.21 percent, Mega Financial shed 0.42 percent, Largan Precision surged 5.57 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.45 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.47 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.52 percent, AU Optronics picked up 0.41 percent, Taiwan Steel climbed 1.23 percent and China Steel was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks moved higher on Wednesday following the lackluster performance in the previous session.

The NASDAQ added 73.10 points or 1.15 percent to 6,453.26, while the Dow rose 56.39 points or 0.25 percent to 22,340.71 and the S&P climbed 10.20 points or 0.41 percent to 2,507.04.

The strength was partly due to a positive reaction to a Republican tax reform plan, which calls for a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a bigger than expected jump in durable goods orders in August, while the National Association of Realtors reported a steep drop in pending home sales in August.

Crude oil futures continued to rise Wednesday, as U.S. oil inventories unexpectedly dwindled. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 23 cents at $52.12, multi-month highs.