Taiwan Shares Have Positive Lead For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, surging almost 1,125 points or 3 percent to a fresh record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 37,600-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the conflict in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourse were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology and plastics companies, while the financial shares were mixed.

For the day, the index improved 273.36 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 37,878.47 after trading between 37,623.38 and 38,096.88.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.13 percent, First Financial shed 0.52 percent, Fubon Financial added 0.68 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.30 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 3.15 percent, Hon Hai Precision soared 4.74 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 2.27 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.24 percent, MediaTek skyrocketed 9.81 percent, Novatek Microelectronics spiked 4.09 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.19 percent, Nan Ya Plastics climbed 1.13 percent, Asia Cement advanced 0.99 percent and Delta Electronics, Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained comfortably in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 340.65 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 49,490.03, while the NASDAQ rallied 397.60 points or 1.64 percent to end at a record 23,001.78 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.89 points or 1.05 percent to close at 7,137.90, also a record.

The rebound on Wall Street came in reaction to news that President Donald Trump has extended the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, although it will continue to blockade all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.

Iran dismissed Trump's ceasefire extension as meaningless and said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. blockade is lifted.

Crude oil prices soared Wednesday thanks to supply disruption concerns due to the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up $3.54 or 3.95 percent at $93.21 per barrel.

Traders also continue to express optimism about the strength of corporate results, with earnings season off to a solid start.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see March data for industrial production and unemployment later today; in February, production was up 17.83 percent and the jobless rate was 3.33 percent.