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Taiwan Bourse Poised To Halt Losing Streak

The Taiwan stock market had finished lower in six straight sessions, dropping almost 550 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,925-point plateau although it's overdue for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, riding a surge in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following heavy damage among the financial and technology stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 350.97 points or 2.03 percent to finish at 16,925.82 after trading between 16,838.58 and 17,196.79.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial cratered 3.57 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.16 percent, CTBC Financial sank 1.74 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 2.16 percent, First Financial lost 1.11 percent, E Sun Financial gave away 1.33 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.33 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.52 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 1.38 percent, Largan Precision plummeted 4.74 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.81 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.09 percent, Delta Electronics surrendered 2.34 percent, Formosa Plastic declined 1.96 percent, Asia Cement jumped 1.33 percent and Taiwan Cement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow spiked 3.38 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 34,258.32, while the NASDAQ jumped 150.45 points or 1.02 percent to end at 14,896.85 and the S&P 500 perked 41.45 points or 0.95 percent to close at 4.395.64.

The early rally on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following the slump seen during the month of September.

Stocks held on to strong gains even as the Federal Reserve hinted tapering of its asset purchases could begin in the near future amid continued progress towards it goals of maximum employment and price stability.

During his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank could begin tapering its asset purchases as soon as its next meeting in early November.

Crude oil prices climbed on Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended up $1.74 or 2.5 percent at $72.23 a barrel.

Closer to home, The central bank in Taiwan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 1.125 percent. Taiwan also will see August figures for retail sales; in July, sales were down 0.3 percent on year.

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Market Analysis

Inflation data from the U.S. garnered maximum attention this week on the economics front, along with the interest rate decision by the European Central Bank. Read our stories to find out how these two key events are set to influence monetary policy in the months ahead. Other main news from the U.S. were the release of the minutes of the latest Fed policy session and the jobless claims data. Elsewhere, the interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada was also in focus.

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