The Taiwan stock market has finished higher now in two of the last three sessions following the five-day losing streak that cost it more than 738.83 points or 10.5 percent while setting a fresh two-year low in the process. Now analysts say that the Taiwan Stock Exchange could continue that recovery on Thursday ahead of an expected government announcement of economic stimulus.
The global forecast is mixed for the Asian markets, with the financial sectors likely to come under additional selling pressure after Lehman Brothers posted a huge quarterly loss. Additional negative sentiment comes from OPEC's surprise reduction in quotas on Wednesday morning in Vienna - although the U.S. markets all saw slight gains, and the Asian bourses could follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Wednesday, getting a bounce of support after dipping briefly below support at 6,400 points on early profit taking. The tourism, construction and financial sectors all saw modest gains, although they were capped by selling pressure among the technology and textile stocks.
For the day, the index added 33.24 points or 0.52 percent to close at 6,458.01 after trading between 6,396.28 and 6,497.72 on turnover of 93.49 billion Taiwan dollars. There were 1,167 gainers and 742 decliners, with 371 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the gainers, Leofoo Development, Cathay Real Estate, Dacin Construction and Polaris Securities all were limit-up 7 percent, while Cathay Financial Holdings closed up 3.49 percent, Shin Kong Financial Holding soared 5.14 percent, Yuanta jumped 4.72 percent and First Financial advanced 3.94 percent. Bucking the trend, United Microelectronics (UMC) shed 2.00 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) fell 1.10 percent.
Wall Street offers a mildly positive lead, but still with a hint of caution as stocks ended Wednesday's session with moderate gains, offsetting some of the considerable losses posted in the previous session. Research In Motion (RIMM) led the tech sector higher after the company announced that it is launching a flip version of its BlackBerry Pearl Smartphone in an effort to move into the retail consumer market.
Before the bell, Lehman Brothers released preliminary results for its third quarter that showed a net loss of nearly $4 billion, much larger than analysts were expecting. Nonetheless, the investment bank also said that it intends to sell a majority stake in its coveted investment management division, including its Neuberger Berman business. The company will also spin off to its shareholders the majority of its commercial real estate holdings into a new public company and slash its annual dividend by 92 percent. Lehman Brothers closed down 6.9 percent.
Meanwhile, strength in the resource sector helped to buoy the broader markets following news that OPEC has decided to reduce its production quota in an effort to stabilize oil prices. Additionally, the Energy Information Administration said that crude oil and gasoline inventories dropped more than expected in the recent week. The drop in inventories was due in large part to the impact of Hurricane Gustav, which hit the Gulf of Mexico last week. Despite the data, the price of oil ended the day down $0.68 at $102.58 a barrel.
The major averages pared some of their gains in the final hour of trading, but they still closed firmly in positive territory. The Dow closed up 38.19 points or 0.3 percent at 11,268.92, the Nasdaq closed up 18.89 points or 0.9 percent at 2,228.70 and the S&P 500 closed up 7.53 points or 0.6 percent at 1,232.04.
In corporate news, China Airlines saw sales fall to 11.62 billion Taiwan dollars in August, the company said on Wednesday, from 11.85 billion Taiwan dollars in the same month in 2007. For the eight months to August, sales stood at 86.55 billion Taiwan dollars against 82.80 billion a year earlier.
Also, Chunghwa Telecom Co Ltd saw net profit in August stand at 5.30 billion Taiwan dollars, the company said on Wednesday, up from 4.12 billion in July. Cumulative net profit for the first eight months of the year was 32.73 billion Taiwan dollars.
Evergreen Marine Corp saw sales fall to 1.84 billion Taiwan dollars in August from 2.16 billion in the same month last year. For the eight months to August, parent sales stood at 15.46 billion Taiwan dollars against 18.80 billion a year earlier.
Finally, Nanya Technology Corp saw sales in August fall to 3.96 billion Taiwan dollars from 4.84 billion a year earlier. For the first eight months of the year, sales declined to 26.89 billion Taiwan dollars from 38.36 billion in the corresponding period in 2007.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.