Taiwan Bourse Expected To Extend Thursday’s Losses

The Taiwan stock market ticked lower again on Thursday, one session after snapping the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 180 points or 1.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 14,740-point plateau and it’s expected to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is decidedly soft on concerns about the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

The TSE finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and mixed performances from the technology and cement stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 5.23 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 14,734.13 after trading between 14,649.54 and 14,756.38.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.73 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.16 percent, CTBC Financial lost 0.66 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.35 percent, First Financial collected 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial dipped 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.58 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.45 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.98 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.44 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.85 percent, MediaTek plummeted 5.15 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rose 0.49 percent, China Steel improved 0.69 percent, Formosa Plastics jumped 1.95 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 0.27 percent, Asia Cement declined 0.61 percent, Taiwan Cement was up 0.15 percent and Delta Electronics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 773.26 points or 2.28 percent to finish at 33,193.09, while the NASDAQ plunged 356.54 points or 3.19 percent to close at 10.814.35 and the S&P 500 tumbled 99.45 points or 2.49 percent to end at 3,895.87.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continued to weigh on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday was more hawkish than expected.

A batch of disappointing U.S. economic data also added to concerns the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes will push the economy into a recession.

Retail sales dropped more than expected last month, as did industrial production. Also, the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserves showed contractions in regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as concerns about easing supply following a partial restart of the Keystone Pipeline. The dollar’s rise on hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.17 or 1.5 percent at $76.11 a barrel.