Support Expected At 21,000 Points

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 400 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 21,030-point plateau although it’s likely to stop the bleeding on Thursday,

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

The TSE finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, gains from the plastics and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 33.08 points or 0.16 percent to finish at the daily low of 21,031.00 after peaking at 21,134.05.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial eased 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial skidded 1.02 percent, CTBC Financial and Delta Electronics both slumped 1.22 percent, First Financial dropped 1.10 percent, Fubon Financial sank 1.04 percent, E Sun Financial declined 1.25 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.33 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 1.31 percent, Hon Hai Precision rose 0.30 percent, Largan Precision soared 2.86 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.42 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.77 percent, Novatek Microelectronics accelerated 2.10 percent, Formosa Plastics added 0.45 percent, Nan Ya Plastics spiked 2.45 percent and Asia Cement lost 0.78 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and trended steadily higher throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.75 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 40,861.71, while the NASDAQ surged 369.65 points or 2.17 percent to end at 17,395.53 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.61 points or 1.07 percent to close at 5,554.13.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched consumer price inflation report for August.

While the report showed consumer prices increased in line with economist estimates, core consumer prices rose slightly more than expected.

Stocks moved sharply lower as the data seemingly reduced the chances that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates by 50 basis points next week. But selling pressure waned dramatically over the course session as the Fed is still expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months.

Crude oil prices surged higher on Wednesday, recovering from a three-year low in the previous session thanks to fears of prolonged production shutdowns in the offshore oil patch due to Hurricane Francine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended up by $1.56 or 2.37 percent at $67.31 a barrel.

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