Renewed Selling Pressure Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 70 points or 0.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 17,865-point plateau although it’s expected to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns over the spread of the coronavirus variant. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the financials and cement stocks were offset by weakness from the plastics and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 15.40 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 17,866.09 after trading between 17,742.08 and 17,935.11.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.74 percent, while CTBC Financial advanced 0.88 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.08 percent, First Financial was up 0.22 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.01 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.93 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.43 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.77 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.27 percent, Delta Electronics lost 0.66 percent, MediaTek rose 0.33 percent, Formosa Plastic sank 1.43 percent, Asia Cement soared 2.51 percent, Taiwan Cement surged 2.92 percent and Mega Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened sharply lower on Thursday, made back some ground as the day progressed but still ended firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 259.86 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 34,421.93, while the NASDAQ dropped 105.28 points or 0.72 percent to end at 14,559.79 and the S&P 500 sank 37.31 points or 0.86 percent to close at 4,320.82.

Concerns about the outlook for the global economy contributed to the early sell-off on Wall Street, while news that Japan has declared a new state of emergency for Tokyo ahead of the Olympic Games added to worries about the impact of new coronavirus variants.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly inched higher last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after data showed a bigger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $0.74 or 1 percent at $72.94 a barrel.