Soft Start Expected For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing more than 80 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,560-point plateau although it's likely to run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on geopolitical concerns and fears over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the cement and plastic stocks, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 11.77 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 15,563.00 after trading between 15,496.73 and 15,567.74.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial declined 1.35 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.17 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.65 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 0.82 percent, First Financial slid 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial plunged 4.81 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.19 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.20 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.49 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.20 percent, Catcher Technology lost 0.53 percent, MediaTek eased 0.14 percent, Delta Electronics advanced 0.85 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surged 4.29 percent, Formosa Plastics gained 0.66 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was up 0.26 percent, Asia Cement added 0.57 percent and Taiwan Cement perked 0.26 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plummeted 697.10 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 33,129.59, while the NASDAQ plunged 294.97 points or 2.50 percent to close at 11,492.30 and the S&P 500 tumbled 81.75 points or 2.00 percent to end at 3,997.34.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates amid a spike in treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year yield more than offset the dip seen last Friday, reaching its highest closing level in three months.

Recent economic data has also led to worries the Federal Reserve may raise rates higher than expected and keep them elevated for an extended period. Later today, the Fed will release minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which could shed some light on the outlook for interest rates.

Geopolitical concerns also weighed after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is suspending Russia's participation in a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. The announcement by Putin comes after U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Monday.

Crude oil prices were volatile on Tuesday as traders weighed the impact of higher U.S. interest rates against optimism about increased demand from China. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery dipped $0.16 or 0.2 percent to $76.16 a barrel, while crude for April delivery eased $0.19 or 0.3 percent to $76.29 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts calling for a decline of 086 percent on year following the 4.01 percent expansion in the three months prior.