Tech Shares Expected To Lift Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, tumbling almost 550 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,175-point plateau although it's due for support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with bargain hunting expected to lift the oversold bourses - particularly among the technology shares. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Thursday following wild volatility among the technology stocks, while the financials and cement companies also ended under pressure.

For the day, the index retreated 171.31 points or 1.12 percent to finish at 15,176.44 after trading between 15,102.40 and 15,380.28.

Among the actives, Mega Financial dipped 0.14 percent, while Fubon Financial dropped 0.97 percent, First Financial eased 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial jumped 1.55 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 1.82 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 4.76 percent, Hon Hai Precision declined 1.37 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.94 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.22 percent, MediaTek plummeted 14.62 percent, Delta Electronics soared 3.31 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.24 percent, Asia Cement declined 1.49 percent, Taiwan Cement slumped 1.27 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial and Formosa Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, swooned midday before accelerating higher into the close.

The Dow jumped 194.23 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 30,677.36, while the NASDAQ spiked 179.11 points or 1.62 percent to end at 11,232.19 and the S&P 500 gained 35.94 points or 0.95 percent to close at 3,795.73.

The markets continued to experience choppy trading as traders weighed going bargain hunting following recent weakness against the possibility of a global recession.

Traders kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, with the Fed chief reiterating his commitment to moving quickly to bring inflation back down. But the Fed's plans to aggressively raise interest rates to combat inflation has led to concerns tighter monetary policy will tip the economy into a recession.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week.

Oil futures slid on Thursday, losing ground for a second straight session on concerns about outlook for energy demand amid rising possibility of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.92 or 1.8 percent at $104.27 a barrel.