The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had plummeted almost 1,630 points or 10 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,130-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over rising inflation and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index dipped 13.32 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 16,132.66 after trading between 16,009.76 and 16,273.98.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.50 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.31 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 1.11 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 1.12 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.78 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.87 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 1.87 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.87 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.85 percent, MediaTek plunged 5.13 percent, Formosa Plastic added 0.61 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.20 percent, Taiwan Cement improved 1.00 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation and First Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened firmly in the red on Wednesday, pared some of the losses but still ended in negative territory.
The Dow shed 164.62 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 33,896.04, while the NASDAQ eased 3.90 points or 0.03 percent to end at 13,299.74 and the S&P 500 fell 12.15 points or 0.29 percent to close at 4,115.68.
The lower open on Wall Street preceded the release of minutes from the FOMC’s latest meeting, which showed that members debated whether or not increasing inflation may be more than “transitory.”
The minutes also showed that the central bank may start to discuss when to start rolling back asset purchases, especially as the country continues to make headway against Covid-19.
The European Central Bank could decide to scale back its emergency bond-buying program as early as next month.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Wednesday, weighed down by an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles, and on worries about outlook for energy demand from Asian countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $2.13 or 3.3 percent at $63.36 a barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will release April numbers for export orders and Q1 data for current account later today. In March, export orders surged 33.3 percent on year, while the current account surplus was $27.33 billion in the three months prior.
Market Analysis
Soft Start Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market
2021-05-20 00:30:07
