Taiwan Bourse Predicted To Open Under Pressure On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 90 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,770-point plateau and it's looking at a soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on persistent concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and plastics, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 47.54 points or 0.30 percent to finish at the daily low of 15,770.66 after peaking at 15,878.75.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.23 percent, while Mega Financial slumped 1.05 percent, CTBC Financial declined 1.10 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 1.00 percent, First Financial slid 0.37 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.60 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.19 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation improved 0.77 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.44 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.61 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.07 percent, MediaTek eased 0.13 percent, Delta Electronics dropped 1.01 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.35 percent, Formosa Plastics weakened 1.31 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 1.97 percent, Taiwan Cement stumbled 1.46 percent and Asia Cement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and hugged the line before plummeting in afternoon trade, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 543.54 points or 1.66 percent to finish at 32,254.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 237.65 points or 2.05 percent to close at 11,338.35 and the S&P 500 sank 73.69 points or 1.85 percent to end at 3,918.32.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street followed the Labor Department report the showed initial jobless claims rose by more than expected last week, although the data helped ease concerns about labor market tightness.

Buying interest tumbled as the day progressed as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report later today. The report could have a significant effect on the pace of interest rate hikes as determined by the FOMC.

Crude oil prices retreated on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns that aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve could slow global economic growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.94 or 1.2 percent at $75.72 a barrel.