The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 210 points or 1.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 19,860-point plateau although it\'s expected to open in the green on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve\'s monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Tuesday following weakness from the steel and cement companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index dipped 22.60 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 19,857.20 after trading between 19,762.16 and 19,921.25.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.42 percent, while Mega Financial dropped 0.99 percent, CTBC Financial improved 0.79 percent, First Financial fell 0.36 percent, Fubon Financial added 0.43 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.26 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation spiked 2.32 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.79 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.23 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.71 percent, Delta Electronics surged 4.58 percent, Novatek Microelectronics declined 1.49 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.88 percent, Asia Cement slumped 1.34 percent, Taiwan Cement skidded 0.95 percent, China Steel was down 0.21 percent and Hon Hai Precision and Nan Ya Plastics were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.
The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.
Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve\'s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank\'s accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will release February figures fir export orders later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.3 percent on year - slowing from 1.9 percent in January.