Tech Shares Likely To Drag Taiwan Bourse Lower

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 100 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,220-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with heavy damage expected among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open under pressure.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the technology stocks were capped by weakness from the financial and plastics companies.

For the day, the index gained 59.08 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 22,223.57 after trading between 21,833.85 and 22,276.39.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial declined 1.59 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.27 percent, CTBC Financial tumbled 1.94 percent, First Financial shed 0.51 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.80 percent, E Sun Financial tumbled 1.69 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.42 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation lost 0.40 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.55 percent, Largan Precision skyrocketed 5.05 percent, Catcher Technology strengthened 1.42 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.21 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.01 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.53 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slid 0.50 percent and Asia Cement dropped 0.72 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly faded and finally finished mixed.

The Dow jumped 203.40 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 40,743.33, while the NASDAQ plummeted 222.79 points or 1.28 percent to close at 17,147.42 and the S&P 500 sank 27.10 points or 0.50 percent to end at 5,436.44.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for the central bank's next decision in September.

The steep drop by the NASDAQ came as tech stocks came under pressure as the day progressed, weighed by the likes of Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Among tech stocks, semiconductor stocks saw some of the worst performances, resulting in a 3.9 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index slumped to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Oil prices fell Tuesday amid continued concerns about the outlook for demand, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement and weekly inventory data later today. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended down $1.08 or 1.42 percent at $74.73 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release preliminary Q2 figures for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.65 percent on year - easing from 6.56 percent in the previous three months.