Lower Open Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, retreating almost 260 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,700-point plateau and it’s looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on pessimism over corporate earnings and for energy demand. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following gains from the cement stocks, losses from the financials and a mixed bag from the technology companies.

For the day, the index lost 62.95 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 15,707.52 after trading between 15,686.54 and 15,804.38.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.47 percent, while Mega Financial slid 0.44 percent, CTBC Financial declined 0.45 percent, First Financial eased 0.19 percent, Fubon Financial weakened 0.52 percent, E Sun Financial slumped 0.60 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.59 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.98 percent, Hon Hai Precision gained 0.48 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.74 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.55 percent, MediaTek fell 0.30 percent, Delta Electronics rose 0.30 percent, Novatek Microelectronics skidded 1.11 percent, Formosa Plastics was down 0.43 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.46 percent, Taiwan Cement perked 0.27 percent and China Steel and Nan Ya Plastics were unchanged.

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

The Dow stumbled 110.39 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 33,786.62, while the NASDAQ lost 97.67 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 12,059.56 and the S&P 500 fell 24.73 points or 0.60 percent to end at 4,129.79.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected disappointment in the latest earnings news from several big-name companies including Tesla (TSLA), AT&T (T) and America Express (AXP).

Negative sentiment was also generated by disappointing U.S. economic data, including a report from the Philadelphia Federal reserve showing regional manufacturing activity contracted at an accelerated rate in April.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, extending losses from the previous session amid rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May sank $1.87 or 2.4 percent at $77.29 a barrel on the expiration day, the lowest since March 31.