Taiwan Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 610 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 22,330-point plateau and it may be in store for more pain on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly soft and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index stumbled 343.98 points or 1.52 percent to finish at the daily low of 22,334.78 after peaking at 22,743.99.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial retreated 1.34 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.25 percent, CTBC Financial fell 0.33 percent, First Financial shed 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial stumbled 1.44 percent, E Sun Financial dipped 0.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.99 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation and Largan Precision both tanked 2.20 percent, Hon Hai Precision surrendered 2.96 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.51 percent, MediaTek tumbled 2.34 percent, Delta Electronics slid 0.39 percent, Novatek Microelectronics lost 0.41 percent, Formosa Plastics declined 1.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.87 percent and Asia Cement plunged 1.96 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed and ended in the red.

The Dow dropped 138.25 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 44,722.06, while the NASDAQ slumped 115.10 points or 0.60 percent to close at 19,060.48 and the S&P 500 sank 22.89 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,998.74.

The pullback by the NASDAQ was fueled by substantial weakness among computer hardware stocks, led lower by PC makers Dell Technologies (DELL) and HP Inc. (HPQ) after providing disappointing earnings guidance.

Weakness among semiconductor and networking stocks also weighed on the NASDAQ, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.

The weakness in the broader markets came after the Commerce Department released closely watched inflation data that matched expectations. While the faster annual price growth was in line with estimates, the acceleration raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil moved slightly lower on Wednesday as traders weighed news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah against data showing a bigger than expected drop by U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery eased $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $68.72 a barrel.