Taiwan Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 55 points or 0.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just shy of the 14,175-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid concerns over the health of the world economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index dropped 155.33 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 14,173.10 after trading between 14,119.30 and 14,249.83.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial declined 1.22 percent, while Mega Financial lost 0.49 percent, CTBC Financial fell 0.45 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.70 percent, First Financial dropped 0.94 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 1.03 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.31 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.51 percent, Largan Precision stumbled 2.54 percent, MediaTek plunged 2.74 percent, Delta Electronics shed 0.53 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plummeted 3.13 percent, Formosa Plastics eased 0.34 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slid 0.42 percent, Asia Cement slumped 0.96 percent and Taiwan Cement, Hon Hai Precision and Catcher Technology were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages shook off a slightly higher open on Wednesday, quickly heading south and finishing firmly in the red.

The Dow tumbled 365.85 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 32,875.71, while the NASDAQ slumped 139.94 points or 1.35 percent to close at 10,213.29 and the S&P 500 sank 46.03 points or 1.20 percent to end at 3,783.22.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the economic outlook and the possibility of higher interest rates leading to a recession.

However, with many traders away from their desks amid the holidays, the sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported a continued slump in U.S. pending home sales in November.

Crude oil prices dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid fears of a global recession and rising COVID-19 cases in China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.57 or 0.7 percent at $78.86 a barrel.