Taiwan Shares Expected To Open In The Green On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Tuesday, one day after emphatically halting the five-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,000 points or 4.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 22,800-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns of a trade war. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the plastics companies remained under pressure.

For the day, the index added 99.25 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 22,793.96 after trading between 22,720.62 and 22,934.31.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial declined 1.15 percent, First Financial skidded 1.07 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 1.20 percent, E Sun Financial spiked 2.14 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.34 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.99 percent, Hon Hai Precision fell 0.30 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.94 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.76 percent, MediaTek lost 0.67 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.50 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 0.94 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 1.31 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 2.40 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.12 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the session to finish solidly in the green and at session highs.

The Dow climbed 134.13 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 44,556.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 262.06 points or 1.35 percent to close at 19,654.02 and the S&P 500 gained 43.31 points or 0.72 percent to end at 6,037.88.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about a global trade war after President Donald Trump agreed to pause 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for a month.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report from the Labor Department showing job openings in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in December.

The data led to some optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Trump agreed to postpone levies on Canada and Mexico's exports to the United States. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $72.70 a barrel, down $0.46 or about $0.63 percent.