Renewed Consolidation Called For Taiwan Shares

The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 100 points or 0.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 22,650-point plateau although it figures to turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to fears of an economic slowdown. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rallied 442.75 points or 1.99 percent to finish at 22,642.10 after trading between 22,465.06 and 22,652.21.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial gained 0.64 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.23 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 1.13 percent, First Financial added 0.34 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.38 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company accelerated 2.78 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 6.94 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 2.27 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.96 percent, Catcher Technology soared 2.58 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.28 percent, Delta Electronics strengthened 2.29 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.49 percent, Formosa Plastics improved 1.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics sank 0.40 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.60 percent and Fubon Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and finished deep under water.

The Dow plummeted 494.82 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 40,347.97, while the NASDAQ tumbled 405.26 points or 2.30 percent to close at 17,194.14 and the S&P 500 sank 75.62 points or 1.37 percent to end at 5,446.68.

The sell-off on Wall Street came as disappointing data led to concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and offset optimism about a near-term interest rate cut by Federal Reserve.

The Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted at an accelerated rate in July.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in almost a year last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday on concerns about disappointing economic data and the outlook for oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.60 or about 2.05 percent at $76.31 a barrel.