Renewed Selling Pressure Likely For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had slumped more than 300 points or 2.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 12,730-point plateau although it's expected to open under pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to fall under strong selling pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index picked up 62.93 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 12,729.05 after trading between 12,635.52 and 12,791.97.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial accelerated 2.67 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.67 percent, CTBC Financial and E Sun Financial both jumped 1.75 percent, Fubon Financial advanced 0.90 percent, First Financial rose 0.40 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company strengthened 1.35 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 3.42 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.48 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.13 percent, Catcher Technology improved 1.23 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.84 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.35 percent, Formosa Plastics perked 0.36 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was up 0.29 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.54 percent and Taiwan Cement climbed 1.34 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, saw some strength midday but headed south as the day progressed.

The Dow managed a slight gain of 2.37 points or 0.01 percent to 31,839.11, while the NASDAQ plunged 228.12 points or 2.04 percent to close at 10.970.99 and the S&P 500 sank 28.51 points or 0.74 percent to end at 3,830.60.

The steep drop by the NASDAQ came amid a negative reaction to disappointing earnings news from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

On the other hand, the slight uptick by the Dow came amid a strong gain by shares of Visa (V), which 4.6 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales in the U.S. pulled back sharply in September after unexpectedly skyrocketing in August, although the decrease was smaller than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles and a weak U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December spiked $2.59 or 3 percent at $87.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release October results for its consumer confidence index later today; in September, the index score was 62.59.