The Taiwan stock market turned barely higher again on Wednesday, one session after it had snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 30 points or 0.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange remains just above the 11,010-point plateau, although figures to head south again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly negative after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate, as expected. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished barely higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financials, chemicals and technology stocks.
For the day, the index added 0.23 points or 0.00 percent to finish at the daily low of 11,011.07 after peaking at 11,072.31 on turnover of 129.96 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.38 percent, while Fubon Financial fell 0.39 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.20 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.67 percent, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering soared 2.74 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.22 percent, Mega Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation were unchanged, Innolux skidded 1.51 percent, Formosa Petrochemical plummeted 8.23 percent, Formosa Plastics jumped 1.43 percent and Formosa Chemicals added 0.45 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks saw considerable volatility in afternoon trading on Wednesday before ending the session modestly lower.
The Dow shed 44.96 points or 0.18 percent to 24,682.31, while the NASDAQ lost 19.02 points or 0.26 percent to 7,345.29 and the S&P 500 fell 5.01 points or 0.18 percent to 2,711.93.
The lower close came after the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. A firm labor market and strength in the economy compelled the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate to a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.
Perhaps more importantly, the Fed reiterated its plan to raise interest rates gradually. The central bank continues to project three rate hikes in 2018.
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a much bigger than expected increase in existing home sales in February.
Crude oil prices rose Wednesday following a drop in U.S. oil inventories, while tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia also lifted oil prices. May WTI oil gained $1.63 or 2.6 percent to settle at $65.17/bb, the highest since early February.
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