Taiwan Stock Market May Give Up 17,000-Point Level

The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 225 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,050-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index dropped 84.34 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 17,056.43 after trading between 17,020.01 and 17,153.17.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial increased 0.35 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.65 percent, CTBC Financial gained 0.40 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.38 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.51 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.92 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.36 percent, Largan Precision added 0.45 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.28 percent, MediaTek lost 0.43 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.27 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.45 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 0.14 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.22 percent, Taiwan Cement declined 0.66 percent, China Steel eased 0.17 percent and First Financial and Formosa Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and largely spent the day in the red, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 129.83 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 34,288.64, while the NASDAQ sank 25.12 points or 0.18 percent to close at 13,791.65 and the S&P 500 fell 8.77 points or 0.20 percent to end at 4,446.82.

The selling pressure came ahead of, and in response to, the latest batch of FOMC minutes which suggested a more hawkish tone for the outlook on interest rates than had been hoped.

The minutes also showed the members disagreed on rate hikes. After the June meeting, all but two of the 18 participants expected that at least one hike would be appropriate this year, and 12 expected two or more hikes.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing new orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased by much less than expected in May.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher on Wednesday, buoyed by government data showing a significant jump in U.S. crude shipments last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.00 or 2.9 percent at $71.79 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide June numbers for consumer prices later today; in May, overall inflation was up 2.02 percent on year.