(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving nearly 210 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 18,375-point plateau and it may find additional support again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, primarily riding a surge in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets was modest gains and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index improved 87.20 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 18,375.40 after trading between 18,255.38 and 18,394.70. Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.31 percent, while Fubon Financial was up 0.13 percent, First Financial rose 0.39 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.34 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.38 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.32 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.62 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 0.95 percent, MediaTek added 0.46 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 1.74 percent, Formosa Plastic soared 2.83 percent, Asia Cement perked 0.11 percent and Taiwan Cement, Hon Hai Precision, Mega Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, faded soon after but rebounded enough to end in the green.
The Dow added 38.30 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 36,290.32, while the NASDAQ gained 34.94 points or 0.23 percent to close at 15,188.39 and the S&P 500 rose 13.28 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,726.35.
The modest strength on Wall Street followed the Labor Department's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation in December. While the report showed the annual rate of consumer price growth once again reached the highest level in almost 40 years, traders seemed relieved the acceleration was not even more significant.
Treasury yields moved to the downside following the release of the report, offsetting some of the interest rate concerns that dragged the markets lower to start the year.
Crude oil prices spiked again on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session. Oil prices continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for energy demand amid indications of tight near-term supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery jumped $1.42 or 1.7 percent to $82.64 a barrel.
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