Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, gathering more than 450 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 27,800-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses was mild upside and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the plastics companies and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 228.77 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 27,793.04 after trading between 27,605.63 and 27,847.67.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rallied 1.50 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.25 percent, First Financial shed 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.09 percent, E Sun Financial tumbled 1.46 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.40 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.64 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 2.25 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.69 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 2.00 percent, MediaTek skidded 1.06 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.81 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 2.01 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.92 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 5.12 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.13 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened in the red but quickly moved higher and continued to pick up speed through the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 408.44 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 47,882.90, while the NASDAQ added 40.42 points or 0.17 percent to close at 23,454.09 and the S&P 500 gained 20.35 points or 0.30 percent to end at 6,849.72.

The strength in the broader markets followed the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing an unexpected decrease by private sector employment in November.

The data added to recently renewed optimism that the Federal Reserve will once again lower interest rates at its monetary policy meeting next week.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 89.0 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by another quarter point next week.

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday as proposed Russia-Ukraine peace talks failed to deliver a breakthrough. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.23 or 0.39 percent at $58.87 per barrel.