The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two straight trading days, advancing more than 340 points or 3.1 percent along the way. He Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests shy of the 10,715-point plateau, although it's expected to run out of steam on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to weak economic data and a decline in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses ended in the red - and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished sharply higher Wednesday as investors returned from the long Lunar New Year break and bought steel, finance and technology shares, in particular.
For the day, the index soared 293.35 points or 2.81 percent to finish at 10,714.44, after trading between 10,559.79 and 10,720.48 on turnover of 145.13 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, China Steel added 3.59 percent, while Taiwan Steel Union skyrocketed 9.77 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 2.54 percent, AU Optronics perked 2.29 percent, MediaTek surged 6.84 percent, Largan Precision soared 7.34 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.68 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 2.97 percent, Cathay Financial jumped 1.89 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.76 percent and Mega Financial climbed 2.28 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks were higher for much of Wednesday's trade before heading south in the late afternoon and ending in the red.
The Dow shed 166.97 points or 0.67 percent to 24,797.78, while the NASDAQ lost 16.08 points or 0.22 percent to 7,218.23 and the S&P 500 fell 14.93 points or 0.55 percent to 2,701.33.
The early support came as markets reacted positively to news from the Federal Reserve, which is on track to raise interest rates only gradually over the course of the year, according to the minutes of the central bank's most recent meeting.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly showed a steep drop in January.
Crude oil futures inched lower Wednesday as traders locked in profits from oil's recent rally. WTI light sweet oil was down 11 cents to $61.68 barrel.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.