Taiwan Shares Tipped To Open Under Water Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 180 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 23,490-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with retail and technology stocks likely to fall under pressure. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plastics and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 116.62 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 23,487.46 after trading between 23,400.75 and 23,576.71.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.38 percent, while First Financial shed 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.43 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.68 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.92 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation climbed 1.06 percent, Hon Hai Precision fell 0.55 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.85 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 1.74 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.60 percent, Delta Electronics slid 0.51 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.37 percent, Formosa Plastics declined 0.38 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 0.59 percent, Asia Cement advanced 1.09 percent and Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 450,94 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 44,176.65, while the NASDAQ stumbled 93.89 points or 0.47 percent to close at 19,962.36 and the S&P 500 sank 26.63 points or 0.43 percent to end at 6,117.52.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid a slump by shares of Walmart (WMT), which came under pressure after the company reported better than fiscal fourth quarter earnings but provided disappointing guidance for the current year.

Traders may also have been looking to cash in on the recent upticks by stocks, which lifted the S&P 500 to record highs despite ongoing tariff concerns and indications the Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates on hold for some time.

On the economic front, the Labor Department noted a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity continued to expand in February, although the index of activity in the sector pulled back sharply.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, as supply disruptions in Russia and drop in gasoline and distillate fuel stocks supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures closed higher by $32 or 0.44 percent at $72.57 a barrel.