Rebound Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 170 points or 1.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,640-point plateau although it’s expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian market figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the cement and plastic sectors, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 85.94 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 15,641.76 after trading between 15,579.49 and 15,711.39.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial sank 1.03 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.87 percent, First Financial eased 0.18 percent, Fubon Financial shed 0.50 percent, E Sun Financial spiked 1.80 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.37 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.00 percent, Largan Precision added 0.50 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.27 percent, MediaTek declined 1.33 percent, Delta Electronics dropped 0.82 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 1.68 percent, Formosa Plastics dipped 0.21 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.27 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.67 percent, Taiwan Cement gained 0.52 percent and China Steel, Hon Hai Precision and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages opened higher and the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished firmly in positive territory, while the Dow ended just below the unchanged line.

The Dow dipped 30.48 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 33,531.33, while the NASDAQ jumped 126.89 points or 1.04 percent to end at 12,306.44 and the S&P 500 added 18.47 points or 0.45 percent to close at 4,137.64.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the Labor Department’s highly anticipated report on consumer prices, which said inflation matched estimates and rose in April.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth eased to 4.9 percent in April from 5.0 percent in March. That marked the smallest 12-month increase since April 2021 and added to optimism about the Federal Reserve pausing its interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices showed a notable move to the downside on Wednesday, giving back ground after closing high for three straight sessions. West Texas Intermediate for June delivery slumped $1.15 or 1.6 percent to $72.56 a barrel after peaking at $73.71 in the previous session.