Taiwan Shares May Open In The Red On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one day after halting the four-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 410 points or 2.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,535-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and plastic stocks, while the technology companies were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 37.17 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 17,535.49 after trading between 17,517.55 and 17,694.26.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.78 percent, while CTBC Financial and Nan Ya Plastics both skidded 1.06 percent, First Financial and Asia Cement both lost 0.73 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial declined 1.16 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.51 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 0.79 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.49 percent, Largan Precision dipped 0.19 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.75 percent, MediaTek advanced 0.87 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 3.43 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 0.64 percent, Taiwan Cement fell 0.58 percent, China Steel tumbled 1.89 percent and Novatek Microelectronics and Mega Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and largely stayed under water, although the NASDAQ managed to break barely into the green.

The Dow shed 157.85 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 37,525.16, while the NASDAQ rose 13.94 points or 0.09 percent to close at 14,857.71 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.04 points or 0.15 percent to end at 4,756.50.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on Monday's strong gains amid lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged later this month, traders have recently become increasingly skeptical about whether the central bank will cut rates in March.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly shrank in November.

Oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday as rising geopolitical risks raised concerns about possible supply and trade disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled higher by $1.47 at $72.24 a barrel.