Lower Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in two straight sessions, surging almost 850 points or 2.3 percent to a record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 37,600-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains grim thanks to ongoing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 646.31 points or 1.75 percent to finish at 37,605.11

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.21 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.75 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial fell 0.35 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.57 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.30 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company expanded 1.23 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.91 percent, Hon Hai Precision and Catcher Technology both jumped 1.69 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.40 percent, MediaTek skyrocketed 10 percent, Delta Electronics surged 6.05 percent, Novatek Microelectronics was up 0.12 percent, Formosa Plastics tumbled 1.52 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 3.15 percent and Asia Cement advanced 1.00 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday but quickly turned lower and remained in the red for the remainder of the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow dropped 293.18 points of 0.59 percent to finish at 49,149.38, while the NASDAQ sank 144.43 points or 0.59 percent to end at 24,259.96 and the S&P 500 lost 45.13 points or 0.63 percent to close at 7,064.01.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the price of crude oil has moved sharply higher over the course of the day.

Crude oil prices continued to surge on Tuesday as the ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz kept supply disruption concerns alive. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.99 or 4.45 percent at $93.60 per barrel.

Earlier in the session, the markets benefitted from positive corporate earnings news from the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH) and homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI), both of which handily beat expectations.

Early buying interest was also generated in reaction to a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. surged by more than expected in the month of March.