Ahead of the long break for the Lunar New Year, the Taiwan stock market had finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 325 points or 2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 17,675-point plateau although it’s expected to find traction on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft with profit taking expected, especially among technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion, although Taiwan may open higher as it catches up on missed positive sentiment.
The TSE finished slightly lower on January 26 as steep losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and cement companies.
For the day, the index dipped 26.72 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 17,674.40 after trading between 17,633.03 and 17,776.42.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.48 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.14 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 1.28 percent, Fubon Financial was up 0.13 percent, First Financial added 0.20 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.52 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sank 0.78 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plummeted 6.83 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.97 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.46 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.64 percent, MediaTek skidded 0.92 percent, Delta Electronics fell 0.37 percent, Formosa Plastic improved 0.48 percent and Taiwan Cement and Asia Cement both perked 0.11 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and stayed that way throughout the session, ending a four-day winning streak.
The Dow plunged 518.17 points or 1.45 percent to finish at 35,111.16, while the NASDAQ plummeted 538.73 points or 3.74 percent to end at 13,878.82 and the S&P tumbled 111.94 points or 2.44 percent to close at 4,477.44.
A steep drop by Meta (FB) weighed on the tech sector, with the Facebook parent plunging nearly 27 percent, and hitting its lowest intraday level in well over a year after reporting weaker than expected Q4 earnings and disappointing revenue guidance for the current quarter.
Several other social media stocks, including Snap and Twitter, tumbled as well. Weak earnings updates from other companies like Honeywell (down more than 7 percent) and Spotify (down nearly 17 percent) also weighed on sentiment.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Institute for Supply Management noted a continued slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in January.
Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as concerns about possible supply disruptions outweighed OPEC’s decision to increase crude output in March. Geopolitical concerns in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have raised concerns about supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.01 or 2.3 percent at a seven-year high $90.27 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Taiwan Stock Market May Return From Holiday To The Upside
2022-02-04 00:30:09
