Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 280 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,800-point plateau, although it's expected to open under pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over rising bond yields. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open under pressure.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rallied 277.88 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 21,803.91 after trading between 21,603.58 and 21,879.24.

Among the actives, Mega Financial fell 0.36 percent, while First Financial climbed 1.10 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.99 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.17 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.23 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 3.55 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.65 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.03 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.64 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.90 percent, Delta Electronics surged 3.56 percent, Novatek Microelectronics advanced 0.96 percent, Formosa Plastics dipped 0.14 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 0.64 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.67 percent and Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 816.80 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 41,860.44, while the NASDAQ dropped 270.07 points or 1.41 percent to close at 18,872.64 and the S&P 500 sank 95.85 points or 1.61 percent to end at 5,844.61.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of a continued increase by bond yields, with the 30-year bond yield climbing above 5 percent due to concerns a new U.S. tax bill could worsen the country's deficit.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill is one step closer to a full vote in the House of Representatives, with economists warning the proposal would add more than $2.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Treasury yields saw further upside after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds attracted below average demand.

Crude oil futures fell under pressure Wednesday after a report released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery slid $0.46 to 0.7 percent to $61.57 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see unemployment data for April later today; in March, the jobless rate was 3.36 percent.