Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 360 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 23,170-point plateau although it's tipped to see renewed consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests major consolidation on the deteriorating outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index added 150.66 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 23,168.67 after trading between 22,934.59 and 23,211.17.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.29 percent, while Mega Financial dropped 0.89 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial slumped 1.26 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.65 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.73 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced 0.93 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 2.70 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 0.82 percent, Largan Precision accelerated 2.18 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.98 percent, MediaTek fell 0.35 percent, Delta Electronics strengthened 1.43 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.50 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 3.67 percent, Nan Ya Plastics climbed 1.06 percent and Asia Cement perked 0.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday and stayed that way for most of the session before plummeting after the FOMC's interest rate statement.

The Dow crashed 1,123.03 points or 2.58 percent to finish at 42,326.87, while the NASDAQ tanked 716.37 points or 3.56 percent to close at 19,392.69 and the S&P 500 sank 178.45 points or 2.95 percent to end at 5,872.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point but forecast fewer than previously estimated rate cuts next year.

With the rate cut almost universally expected, the focus of the announcement was on Fed officials' latest economic projections. The latest projections suggest rates will be in a range of 3.75 to 4.0 percent by the end of 2025 compared to the range of 3.25 to 3.50 percent forecast in September.

Assuming the Fed lowers rates by a quarter-point, the projections point to just two rate cuts next year compared to the four previously forecast as Fed officials expect inflation to come in hotter than previously estimated in 2025.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, rebounding from recent losses after data showed a drop in crude inventories and an increase in gasoline stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $0.50 or 0.71 percent at $70.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan will announce its decision on interest rates later today; the bank is expected to hold its lending rate steady at 2.00 percent.