Rebound Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after halting the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 425 points or 3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,410-point plateau, although it's expected to see renewed support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses form the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 267.15 points or 1.82 percent to finish at 14,410.05 after trading between 14,397.12 and 14,557.86.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial surrendered 2.49 percent, Mega Financial skidded 1.13 percent, CTBC Financial plummeted 2.56 percent, Fubon Financial stumbled 1.41 percent, First Financial slumped 1.50 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 1.80 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 3.37 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation declined 1.88 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 1.30 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.89 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 0.91 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.59 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics was down 1.67 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 1.47 percent, Asia Cement added 0.69 percent and Taiwan Cement lost 0.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 435.98 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 31,581.28, while the NASDAQ rallied 246.99 points or 2.14 percent to end at 11,791.90 and the S&P 500 jumped 71.68 points or 1.83 percent to close at 3,979.87.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, which dragged the major averages down to their lowest levels in over a month; traders may now feel that interest rate concerns have been priced into the markets.

The rebound also came amid a pullback by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note receding after reaching a nearly three-month high on Tuesday.

Stocks saw further upside following the release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which said economic activity in the U.S. has been essentially unchanged since early July. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in July.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid rising fears of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $4.94 or 5.7 percent at $81.94 a barrel, the lowest settlement since January 11.