Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Taiwan Shares

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the five-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 750 points or 3.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,550-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on a dimming outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the plastics and cement companies were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 315.08 points or 1.48 percent to finish at 21,551.83 after trading between 21,248.99 and 21,567.48.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.08 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.12 percent, CTBC Financial rose 0.40 percent, First Financial collected 0.53 percent, Fubon Financial improved 0.82 percent, E Sun Financial retreated 1.21 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.73 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation accelerated 2.04 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.81 percent, Largan Precision added 0.45 percent, Catcher Technology surged 3.83 percent, MediaTek advanced 0.85 percent, Delta Electronics soared 2.83 percent, Novatek Microelectronics strengthened 1.32 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.15 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 2.15 percent, Asia Cement stumbled 1.57 percent, Taiwan Cement spiked 3.00 percent and China Steel slumped 1.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages spent the first half of Wednesday hugging the line before stumbling into the red late in the day.

The Dow tumbled 201.95 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 39,671.04, while the NASDAQ dropped 31.08 points or 0.18 percent to close at 16,801.54 and the S&P 500 fell 14.40 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,307.01.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the Fed minutes suggested officials expect to maintain interest rates at current levels longer than previously thought.

The minutes of the April 30-May 1 meeting said participants highlighted disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum.

While officials also discussed reducing policy restraint in the event of an unexpected weakening in labor market conditions, participants also noted a willingness to raise rates further of necessary should risks to inflation materialize.

Oil prices fell to a two-month low on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected rebound in crude oil inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide April data for industrial production later today; in March, production was up 3.99 percent on year.