No Help Yet For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, stumbling almost 325 points or 3.2 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,950-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild downside ahead of key inflation data later in the day. The European and U.S. markets saw mild downside and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and plastics, while the financial sector was mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 308.53 points or 1.39 percent to finish at 21,951.76 after trading between 21,919.40 and 22,093.20.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.15 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.63 percent, First Financial improved 0.73 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slumped 2.24 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation gained 0.56 percent, Hon Hai Precision plunged 3.31 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.00 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.65 percent, MediaTek tanked 1.98 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 1.75 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 0.54 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 1.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.31 percent, Asia Cement climbed 1.18 percent and CTBC Financial, Fubon Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and bounced back and forth across the line before finishing modestly lower.

The Dow dropped 155.09 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 42,299.70, while the NASDAQ slumped 94.98 points or 0.53 percent to close at 17,804.03 and the S&P 500 sank 18.89 points or 0.33 percent to end at 5,693.31.

The lower close on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on auto imports.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation later today.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said the economy grew slightly faster than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2024. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales saw a significant rebound in February after plunging to an all-time low in January.

Oil prices moved higher Thursday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.19 or about 0.27 percent at $69.84 a barrel.