The Taiwan stock market rebounded on Wednesday, one session after snapping the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 635 points or 3.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,730-point plateau although it figures to see renewed selling pressure on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with technology stocks and financials in particular likely targeted for profit taking. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index gained 171.67 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 17,731.37 after trading between 17,581.62 and 17,738.69.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial jumped 1.89 percent, while Mega Financial soared 2.92 percent, CTBC Financial surged 2.28 percent, Fubon Financial spiked 2.15 percent, First Financial improved 1.10 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.96 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.20 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.56 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.44 percent, Largan Precision gained 0.76 percent, MediaTek rose 0.21 percent, Delta Electronics advanced 0.95 percent, Nan Ya Plastic was up 0.11 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.41 percent, Taiwan Cement dipped 0.10 percent and Catcher Technology and Formosa Plastic were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained that way largely throughout the session.
The Dow tumbled 448.96 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 34,358.50, while the NASDAQ dropped 186.21 points or 1.32 percent to close at 13,922.60 and the S&P 500 sank 55.37 points or 1.23 percent to end at 4,456.24.
Lingering concerns about the ongoing war in Ukraine have contributed to the pullback on Wall Street along with a spike by the price of crude oil. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to impose further sanctions on Russia during his trip to Europe this week.
Traders also were cashing in on recent strength in the markets, as stocks moved notably higher in five out of the six previous sessions, although they may be wary of continuing to buy stocks amid worries about the Russia-Ukraine crisis, inflation and higher interest rates.
Crude oil futures settled at over two-week highs on Wednesday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories and worries about supply disruptions due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $5.66 or 5.2 percent at $114.93 a barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will release unemployment data for February later today; in January, the jobless rate was 3.70 percent.
Market Analysis
Taiwan Stock Market Likely To Head South Again On Thursday
2022-03-24 00:30:53
