Higher Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 1,850 points or 4 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 40,770-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to easing crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial and plastics companies, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 64.15 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 40,769.29 after trading between 40,522.78 and 40,885.05.

Among the actives, Mega Financial rose 0.26 percent, while CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial collected 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial vaulted 1.32 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.80 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.10 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.34 percent, Hon Hai Precision soared 5.27 percent, Largan Precision slumped 1.17 percent, Catcher Technology expanded 1.43 percent, MediaTek skyrocketed 9.93 percent, Delta Electronics tanked 2.48 percent, Novatek Microelectronics climbed 1.08 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.98 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 6.33 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.14 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages started higher and picked up steam as the day progressed, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 356.35 points or 073 percent to finish at 49,298.25, while the NASDAQ rallied 258.32 points or 1.03 percent to end at a record 25,326.13 and the S&P 500 gained 58.47 points or 0.81 percent to close at 7,259.22, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures plunging by more than 3 percent after spiking by more than 4 percent on Monday.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday after U.S. attempts to unblock Strait of Hormuz traffic boosted market sentiments and eased supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $3.80 or 3.57 percent at $102.62 per barrel.

A positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news also contributed to the strength on Wall Street, led by Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), which handily beat the street.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of April.