Taiwan Stock Market Expected To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday halted the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 250 points or 1.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,675-point plateau although it's expected to turn lower again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over growth and on the U.S. debt ceiling. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index climbed 198.85 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 15,673.90 after trading between 15,550.57 and 15,723.95.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.58 percent, while Mega Financial rallied 1.88 percent, CTBC Financial advanced 0.86 percent, First Financial added 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.67 percent, E Sun Financial accelerated 1.58 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.92 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation strengthened 1.46 percent, Largan Precision surged 3.79 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 1.37 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.22 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 1.42 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement climbed 1.07 percent, China Steel was up 0.17 percent and Hon Hai Precision, MediaTek and Delta Electronics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday. The NASDAQ spent some time in positive territory but they all finished solidly in the red.

The Dow plunged 336.46 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 33,012.14, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.16 points or 0.18 percent to end at 12,345.05 and the S&P 500 sank 26.38 points or 0.64 percent to close at 4,109.90.

The steep drop by the Dow was partly due to a decrease by shares of Home Depot (HD), with the home improvement retailer falling by 2.2 percent after it reported weaker than expected first quarter revenues and lowered its full-year guidance.

Ongoing concerns about the U.S. debt ceiling also generated some negative sentiment as President Joe Biden meets with top congressional leaders with no resolution.

Traders were also reacting to a mixed batch of U.S. economic data, including separate reports showing weaker than expected retail sales growth and an unexpected increase in industrial output.

Oil prices drifted lower Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following disappointing Chinese data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.25 or 0.4 percent at $70.86 a barrel.