Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 370 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,440-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely offset by weakness from technology and retail companies. 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 lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 108.08 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 15,439.92 after trading between 15,375.65 and 15,533.34.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial added 0.56 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.41 percent, CTBC Financial retreated 1.53 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.48 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.20 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.45 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.90 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.29 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.59 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.98 percent, Delta Electronics eased 0.21 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plummeted 4.55 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was up 0.12 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.80 percent, Taiwan Cement slumped 0.50 percent and First Financial, E Sun Financial and Formosa Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off early gains and quickly turned lower, finishing the day near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 491.27 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 30,946.99, while the NASDAQ plunged 343.01 points or 2.98 percent to close at 11,181.54 and the S&P 500 slumped 78.56 points or 2.01 percent to end at 3,821.55.

The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that China has cut quarantine times for international travelers in a big step toward easing Covid-19 controls.

But buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with lingering concerns about a potential recession continuing to weigh on the markets.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, extending recent gains after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates indicated that they can barely increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.19 or 2 percent at $111.76 per barrel.