The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 100 points or 0.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,840-point plateau, although it's expected to turn lower again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation, thanks mainly to a fall in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology stocks and chemical companies, while the airlines and steel stocks weighed.
For the day, the index advanced 54.15 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 10,840.34 after trading between 10,807.89 and 10,842.61 on turnover of 124.36 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 1.88 percent, while Largan Precision added 0.17 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.88 percent, AU Optronics and Cathay Financial both fell 0.40 percent, Mega Financial was unchanged, MediaTek soared 2.90 percent, Formosa Plastics climbed 0.98 percent, Formosa Petrochemical jumped 0.95 percent, China Airlines plummeted 4.24 percent and Taiwan Steel eased 0.19 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is flat with a touch of weakness as stocks moved mostly lower on Tuesday - although the Dow ended barely high to hit a fresh record close.
The Dow added 8.81 points or 0.04 percent to 23,557.23, while the NASDAQ shed 18.65 points or 0.27 percent to 6,767.78 and the S&P 500 eased 0.49 points or 0.02 percent to 2,590.64.
The weakness was partly due to profit taking as traders cashed in on some of the recent strength in the markets.
Among individual sectors, banking stocks took heavy damage, while airlines, steel and computer software stocks also ended under pressure.
Crude oil prices leveled off Tuesday after a furious rally took them to two-year highs in the previous session. December WTI oil fell 15 cents or 0.3 percent to $57.20/bbl, the first loss in four sessions.
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