Ahead of Monday’s holiday for National Day, the Taiwan stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 525 points or 3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,640-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with interest rate concerns offset by support from crude oil prices. The European markets were mostly higher and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index lost 73.47 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 16,640.43 after trading between 16,605.49 and 16,771.71.
Among the actives, Mega Financial shed 0.46 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.22 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.26 percent, First Financial lost 0.67 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 0.95 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.86 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.24 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.93 percent, Largan Precision plunged 5.87 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.61 percent, MediaTek eased 0.11 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.80 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.11 percent and Taiwan Cement, Cathay Financial and Formosa Plastic were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed and ended firmly in the red.
The Dow dropped 250.19 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 34,496.06, while the NASDAQ sank 93.34 points or 0.64 percent to close at 14,486.20 and the S&P 500 lost 30.15 points or 0.69 percent to end at 4,361.19.
Lingering concerns about the Federal Reserve scaling back its asset purchases weighed on Wall Street, as last Friday’s disappointing job report is not seen as likely to dissuade the central bank from tapering.
Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks for Columbus Day, also known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Crude oil futures spiked Monday with falling inventories, the OPEC decision to stick with a gradual production increase, and the ongoing energy crunch supporting oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $1.17 or 1.5 percent to $80.52 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Friday’s Losses
2021-10-12 00:30:07
