The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after halting the five-day losing streak in which it had plunged more than 740 points or 4.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 16,450-point plateau and it’s expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement and plastics companies.
For the day, the index dipped 8.02 points or 0.05 percent to finish at the daily high of 16,446.78 after moving as low as 16,304.44.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.66 percent, while Mega Financial tumbled 2.19 percent, CTBC Financial surrendered 2.09 percent, First Financial declined 1.51 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 1.57 percent, E Sun Financial stumbled 1.80 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 3.74 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.40 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.39 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.87 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.62 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.43 percent, Novatek Microelectronics eased 0.13 percent, Formosa Plastics fell 1.82 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dove 1.76 percent, Asia Cement weakened 1.38 percent, Taiwan Cement sank 1.77 percent, China Steel dipped 0.92 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but quickly turned lower and ended solidly in the red.
The Dow dropped 180.65 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 34,765.74, while the NASDAQ tumbled 156.42 points or 1.15 percent to close at 13,474.63 and the S&P 500 sank 33.53 points or 076 percent to end at 4,404.33.
The weakness that emerged on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, which said “most of the central bank officials continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy.”
In economic news, U.S. industrial and manufacturing production both eased in July, while building permits and housing starts saw mild upside.
Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid worries about the outlook for energy demand from China and uncertainty over interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September shed $1.61 or 2 percent at $79.38 a barrel.
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