Lower Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, surging more than 2,000 points or 6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 34,110-point plateau although it's likely to see a downward correction on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and surging oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 1,342.32 points or 4.10 percent to finish at 34,114.19 after trading between 33,128.49 and 34,218.66.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.64 percent, while First Financial added 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.02 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.30 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 4.86 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 2.98 percent, Hon Hai Precision accelerated 4.53 percent, Largan Precision spiked 3.91 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.27 percent, MediaTek rallied 3.52 percent, Delta Electronics skyrocketed 8.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 1.04 percent, Formosa Plastics strengthened 1.40 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 6.05 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.44 percent and Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent much of Wednesday's trade bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.

The Dow dropped 289.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,417.27, while the NASDAQ rose 19.03 points or 0.08 percent to end at 22,716.13 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.68 points or 0.08 percent to close at 6,775.80.

The recent volatility has largely been driven by big swings by the price of crude oil, which rebounded on Wednesday.

Crude oil is regained ground after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it has received reports of three vessels being struck by projectiles off Iran's coast, adding to worries about transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday as the Middle East conflict fails to show any indication of calming down soon. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $4.21 or 5.04 percent at $87.66 per barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in February.