Taiwan Stock Market May Head South Again On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had given up more than 420 points or 1.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,210-point plateau although it may see renewed selling pressure on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative in rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the plastics companies.

For the day, the index advanced 161.69 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 22,211.59 after trading between 22,118.46 and 22,331.69.

Among the actives, E Sun Financial, Cathay Financial and Fubon Financial all perked 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.37 percent, First Financial collected 1.25 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.95 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.04 percent, Largan Precision improved 0.85 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 2.17 percent, MediaTek strengthened 1.59 percent, Delta Electronics slumped 1.37 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics plunged 4.00 percent, Nan Ya Plastics plummeted 5.12 percent, Asia Cement fell 0.23 percent and CTBC Financial and Hon Hai Precision were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending firmly under water.

The Dow stumbled 299.29 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 42,215.80, while the NASDAQ slumped 180.12 points or 0.91 percent to close at 19,521.09 and the S&P 500 sank 50.39 points or 0.84 percent to end at 5,982.72.

While reports hinting at an end to hostilities contributed to a rally on Monday, news that President Donald Trump left a G7 summit early to focus on the conflict has led to worries about further escalation.

The weakness on Wall Street also came after the release of a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales fell by more than expected in the month of May.

Crude prices soared on Tuesday, with the conflict between Israel and Iran showing no sign of retreat. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery shot up by $3.07 to settle at $74.84 per barrel.