Taiwan Shares Have Solid Lead For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, rallying almost 2,200 points or 7 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 34,760-point plateau and it's expected to see continued strength again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on news of the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran - although the Asian markets have already reacted to this news, so the upside may be more measured than the spikes in the European and U.S. markets.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and plastics companies. For the day, the index surged 1,531.56 points or 4.61 percent to finish at the daily high of 34,761.38 after trading as low as 33,379.50. Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.33 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, First Financial collected 0.70 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.71 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.15 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 4.84 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation accelerated 3.43 percent, Hon Hai Precision soared 4.95 percent, Largan Precision rallied 5.07 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.26 percent, MediaTek surged 7.48 percent, Delta Electronics skyrocketed 9.90 percent, Novatek Microelectronics climbed 1.82 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.63 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 5.71 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.28 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and stayed that way throughout the trading day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,325.46 points or 2.85 percent to finish at 47,909.92, while the NASDAQ rallied 617.14 points or 2.80 percent to end at 22,634.99 and the S&P 500 jumped 165.96 points or 2.51 percent to close at 6,782.81.

The initial surge on Wall Street came in reaction to news that the U.S., Israel and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire.

President Donald Trump said he has agreed to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for two weeks subject to Tehran agreeing to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

A subsequent statement from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened for a period of two weeks if the attacks against Iran are halted.

Crude oil prices went into a tailspin Wednesday as supply-disruption risks dissipated following a two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $18.15 or 16.07 percent at $94.80 per barrel.