Taiwan Stock Market Draws Firm Lead

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had retreated more than 105 points or 0.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,925-point plateau and it's called higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the oversold Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting expected amid a bump in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to higher, and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index collected 23.25 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 10,927.44 after trading between 10,842.56 and 10,969.20 on turnover of 178.06 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.44 percent, while Innolux spiked 1.72 percent, AU Optronics soared 2.66 percent, United Microelectronics fell 0.82 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.26 percent, AsusTek gained 0.36 percent, Hon Hai Precision was unchanged, CTBC Financial perked 1.16 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.32 percent, Mega Financial advanced 0.95 percent, Cathay Financial collected 0.91 percent, China Steel advanced 1.71 percent and Taiwan Steel Union surged 2.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street calls for mild support. After an initial move to the upside, stocks turned lackluster on Wednesday - eventually ending the session mixed.

The Dow fell 42.41 points or 0.17 percent to 24,657.80, while the NASDAQ added 55.93 points or 0.72 percent to 7,781.51 and the S&P 500 gained 4.73 points or 0.17 percent to 2,767.32.

The advance by the NASDAQ reflected strength among media stocks after Disney (DIS) raised its offer for most of Twenty-First Century Fox's (FOXA) media assets - exceeding the offer made by rival Comcast (CMCSA).

Traders largely shrugged off concerns about a trade war been the U.S. and China that contributed to weakness on Tuesday.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported an unexpected decrease in existing home sales in May.

Crude oil futures rebounded Wednesday after the latest U.S. inventories report showed a bigger drop than expected. July WTI oil gained $1.15 or 1.8 percent to end at $66.22/bbl on expiration day. August WTI oil was up 81 cents or nearly 1.3 percent to settle at $65.71/bbl.