Soft Start Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Tuesday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 200 points or 1.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,950-point plateau although it's likely to hand back those gains on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing concerns over the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the technology stocks were offset by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index rose 27.44 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 14,953.63 after trading between 14,911.97 and 15,027.50.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial tumbled 2.52 percent, while Mega Financial dipped 0.14 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 1.06 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.52 percent, E Sun Financial eased 0.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.50 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation climbed 1.13 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.46 percent, Largan Precision soared 2.64 percent, Catcher Technology strengthened 1.10 percent, MediaTek gained 0.61 percent, Delta Electronics increased 0.57 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 0.15 percent, Taiwan Cement slipped 0.25 percent and First Financial, Formosa Plastics and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off early support on Tuesday, quickly heading south and remaining in the red for the rest of the session.

The Dow tumbled 308.12 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 31,790.87, while the NASDAQ dropped 134.53 points or 1.12 percent to close at 11,883.14 and the S&P 500 sank 44.45 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,986.16.

The extended sell-off reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the impact further rate hikes will have on the economy.

Stocks have been under pressure since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last Friday that the central bank plans to continue aggressively raising interest rates. Powell suggested that even after the Fed finishes tightening monetary policy, rates will remain at higher levels to ensure inflation remains contained.

In economic news, the Conference Board said that consumer confidence rebounded by more than expected in August. Also, the Labor Department said the number of job openings was little changed at 11.2 million on the last business day of July.

The price of crude oil showed a substantial move to the downside during trading on Tuesday amid concerns higher interest rates will lead to a global economic slowdown, reducing energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $5.37 or 5 percent to $91.64 a barrel.