Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 300 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,240-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and mixed to lower on recession concerns and sliding crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index declined 199.79 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 15,240.13 after trading between 15,218.07 and 15,365.54.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial surrendered 1.86 percent, while Mega Financial tumbled 1.79 percent, Fubon Financial declined 1.30 percent, First Financial lost 0.38 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 1.01 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.31 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.27 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.89 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.58 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.30 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.54 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 3.60 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 1.59 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slid 0.24 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.11 percent, Taiwan Cement eased 0.13 percent and CTBC Financial and Formosa Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly flat as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, spiked up and down throughout the day before finally ending the session mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 82.32 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 31,029.31, while the NASDAQ dipped 3.65 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,177.89 and the S&P 500 eased 2.72 points or 0.07 percent to end at 3,818.83.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets kept traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.

Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who participated in a panel discussion at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking. Powell reiterated that the U.S. economy is "well positioned to withstand tighter monetary policy" but cautioned there's no guarantee the Fed can engineer a "soft landing."

In economic news, revised data from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic activity shrank by slightly more than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2022.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Wednesday, snapping a three-day winning streak with traders looking to the two-day OPEC meeting that began today to discuss supply issues. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.98 or 1.8 percent at $109.78 a barrel.