Rebound Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after halting the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 150 points or 1.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,890-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

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

The TSE finished slightly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financials, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index dipped 29.69 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 14,891.90 after trading between 14,849.94 and 15,031.99.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.22 percent, Mega Financial strengthened 1.28 percent, CTBC Financial collected 1.09 percent, Fubon Financial rallied 1.81 percent, First Financial improved 1.52 percent, E Sun Financial plummeted 5.79 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.20 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.65 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.46 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.79 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.87 percent, MediaTek gained 0.74 percent, Delta Electronics soared 3.15 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 1.00 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 1.06 percent, Asia Cement plunged 8.89 percent and Taiwan Cement advanced 0.92 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages shook off early weakness on Thursday, quickly moving into positive territory and accelerating into the close.

The Dow jumped 332.04 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 32,529.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 130.17 points or 1.08 percent to end at 12,162.59 and the S&P 500 improved 48.82 points or 1.21 percent to close at 4,072.43.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Commerce Department report showing a continued contraction in U.S. economic activity in the second quarter of 2022, putting the U.S. in a technical recession.

However, economists cast doubt on whether the economy is actually in a recession, citing other indicators indicating continued growth and persistent strength in the labor market.

The data may have still added to optimism that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of its interest rate hikes at future meetings, contributing to the turnaround on Wall Street.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as worries about the outlook for energy demand due to slowing global economic growth weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.84 or 0.9 percent at $96.42 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide an advance estimate for Q2 gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.1 percent on year - down from 3.14 percent in the three months prior.