Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 100 points or 0.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 20,460-point plateau, although it figures to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were own and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the technology and steel companies, weakness from the plastics and cement stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index climbed 244.24 points or 1.21 percent to finish at the daily high of 20,466.57 after trading as low as 20,359.81.

Among the actives, Mega Financial dropped 0.86 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.47 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.18 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 2.60 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation improved 0.77 percent, Hon Hai Precision surged 5.65 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.20 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.47 percent, MediaTek gained 0.43 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.05 percent, Novatek Microelectronics increased 0.85 percent, Formosa Plastics eased 0.14 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dipped 0.17 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.60 percent, Taiwan Cement sank 0.72 percent, China Steel rallied 1.25 percent and Cathay Financial, First Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

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

The Dow plunged 396.61 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 39,170.24, while the NASDAQ tumbled 156.38 points or 0.95 percent to close at 16,240.45 and the S&P 500 sank 37.96 points or 0.72 percent to end at 5,205.81.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates as traders digested recent U.S. inflation and manufacturing data, which has raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in June.

Treasury yields moved sharply higher in reaction to the data and saw further upside during Tuesday's session, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note reaching a four-month high.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department reported a significant rebound in factory orders in February.

Oil prices hit a five-month high on Tuesday amid rising demand following solid manufacturing activity data from the U.S. and China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $1.44 or 1.72 percent at $85.15 a barrel, the highest settlement since last October.