Heavy Losses Tipped For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long weekend for Tomb Sweeping Day, the Taiwan stock market had moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 600 points or 2.8 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just shy of the 21,300-point plateau although it's expected to open sharply lower as it catches up on missed sentiment.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on trade war concerns after China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in reaction to President Donald Trump's new levies. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are also expected to open under pressure.

The TSE finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the plastics and cement companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index perked 18.05 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 21,298.22 after trading between 21,235.99 and 21,390.52. Among the actives, Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial both dipped 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.50 percent, First Financial lost 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.23 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.86 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 0.21 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.52 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.99 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.81 percent, Catcher Technology rallied 3.04 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.71 percent, Delta Electronics slid 0.40 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plunged 3.80 percent, Formosa Plastics improved 0.92 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 0.80 percent and Asia Cement added 0.64 percent.

The lead from Wall Street remains brutal as the major averages opened with heavy losses and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 2,231.07 points or 5.50 percent to finish at 38,314.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 962.82 points or 5.82 percent to close at 15,587.79 and the S&P 500 plunged 322.44 points or 5.97 percent to end at 5,074.08.

The extended nosedive on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about a global trade war, triggered by the tariff polices Trump announced last week.

China announced a 34 percent tariff will be imposed on all imported goods from the U.S. as of April 10, while Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.

Crude oil prices showed another substantial move to the downside on Friday on continuing concerns about the impact a global trade war will have on fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate for May delivery plunged $4.95 or 7.4 percent to $62 a barrel, a three-year low.