The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 200 points or 2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 9,785-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed consolidation on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative after the FOMC hiked interest rates and hinted at more next year. The European markets were up and the Asian bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index collected 64.39 points or 0.66 percent to finish at the daily high of 9,783.21 after moving as low as 9,720.92 on turnover of 88.31 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, CTBC Financial perked 0.75 percent, while Cathay Financial added 0.11 percent, Mega Financial gained 0.39 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.53 percent, AsusTek Computer surged 4.06 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation gathered 0.89 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.41 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.15 percent, AU Optronics was up 0.40 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.87 percent, Taiwan Cement added 0.98 percent and Formosa Plastics advanced 1.33 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks saw typically post-Federal Reserve decision volatility on Wednesday before ending sharply lower to their worst closing levels in over a year.
The Dow shed 351.98 points or 1.49 percent to finish at 23,323.66, while the NASDAQ lost 147.08 points or 2.17 percent to 6,636.83 and the S&P fell 39.20 points or 1.54 percent to 2,506.96.
The late-day sell-off on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point. The central bank raised its target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent.
While the Fed also forecast fewer than previously estimated rate hikes next year, the central bank's tone was not as dovish as some traders had hoped. The Fed's median projection for the federal funds rate in 2019 was reduced to 2.9 percent from the 3.1 percent expected in September.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, despite data showing a less than expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. Crude oil futures for January expired at $47.20 a barrel, gaining $0.96 or 2.1 percent. Crude futures for February ended up $1.57 or 3.4 percent at $48.17 a barrel.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.