More Pain Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 310 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,430-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the health of the global economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the plastic and cement companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed. For the day, the index lost 95.23 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 14,433.32 after trading between 14,411.81 and 14,493.72. Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial lost 0.49 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.90 percent, Fubon Financial improved 0.89 percent, First Financial collected 0.38 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.21 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.96 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 3.05 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 1.00 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.12 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.74 percent, MediaTek shed 0.61 percent, Delta Electronics fell 0.34 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surrendered 1.75 percent, Formosa Plastics declined 1.48 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.38 percent, Asia Cement retreated 1.43 percent and Taiwan Cement plummeted 2.17 percent. The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages fluctuated early Monday but then headed well into the red and finished under pressure.

The Dow dropped 162.92 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 32,757.54, while the NASDAQ retreated 159.38 points or 1.49 percent to close at 10,546.03 and the S&P 500 slumped 34.70 points or 0.90 percent to end at 3,817.66.

The extended weakness on Wall Street came as traders continue to express concerns about the outlook for the economy. The Federal Reserve said it will continue raising interest rates next year, leading to worries the aggressive policy tightening will tip the economy into a recession.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders reported that homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a continued deterioration in December.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid optimism about increased demand for oil from China after the country relaxed certain COVID-related restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.91 or 1.25 percent at $75.20 a barrel.