Taiwan Bourse Seen Lower After Holiday Weekend

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long weekend for Peace Memorial Day, the Taiwan stock market had moved lower in two of three trading days following the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 80 points or 0.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,500-point plateau and it's looking at a soft start on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with profit taking expected amid concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and plastics, while the financials and cement companies were mixed.

For the day, the index slumped 111.61 points or 0.71 percent to finish at the daily low of 15,503.79 after peaking at 15,717.96.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.35 percent, while Mega Financial skidded 1.04 percent, CTBC Financial lost 0.44 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.33 percent, First Financial sank 0.92 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.50 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 1.94 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.90 percent, Catcher Technology plummeted 3.40 percent, MediaTek plunged 2.95 percent, Delta Electronics declined 1.21 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.37 percent, Formosa Plastics slid 0.44 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 0.66 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.56 percent, Taiwan Cement slumped 0.89 percent and E Sun Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday. The Dow spent all day in the red, while the NASDAQ and S&P visited positive territory for a bit but couldn't hold the gains and ended under water.

The Dow tumbled 232.39 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 32,656.70, while the NASDAQ dipped 11.44 points or 0.10 percent to close at 11,455.54 and the S&P 500 fell 12.09 points or 0.30 percent to end at 3,970.15.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

In U.S. economic news, MNI Indicators released a report showing Chicago-area business activity unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in February. Also, the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly decreased for the second consecutive month in February.

Following the pullback a day earlier, the price of crude oil showed a strong move back to the upside on Tuesday, thanks to optimism about increased demand from China. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $1.37 or 1.8 percent to $77.05 a barrel.