Taiwan Stocks May See Continued Selling Pressure On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two consecutive trading days, dropping more than 225 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,890-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on a deteriorating outlook for interest rate cuts. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the technology and cement companies, while the financials were up and the plastics were mixed.

For the day, the index stumbled 145.07 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 17,889.56 after trading between 17,874.95 and 17,996.33.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial improved 0.57 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.66 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.18 percent, First Financial collected 0.38 percent, Fubon Financial and MediaTek both rose 0.31 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.18 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.21 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.49 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.80 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.26 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 2.10 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gained 0.59 percent, Formosa Plastics was up 0.14 percent, Nan Ya Plastics lost 0.49 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.13 percent, Taiwan Cement fell 0.31 percent, China Steel increased 0.40 percent and E Sun Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly lower but accelerated to the downside after the Federal Reserve's rate decision and statement.

The Dow stumbled 317.01 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 38,150.30, while the NASDAQ plummeted 345.88 points or 2.23 percent to close at 15,164.01 and the S&P 500 slumped 79.32 points or 1.61 percent to end at 4,845.65.

In the Fed's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement, it maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent to support maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent.

However, the Fed also said it does not expect it will be appropriate to lower rates until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent - triggering a wave of selling in the markets.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector job growth in the U.S. slowed more than expected in January.

Oil prices slumped Wednesday, weighed down by data showing an unexpected jump in U.S. crude inventories last week, and concerns about the outlook for demand after data showed another contraction in Chinese manufacturing activity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $1.97 or 2.5 percent at $75.85 a barrel.