Taiwan Stock Market May Tick Lower On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting almost 60 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 16,440-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over the outlook for the economy and for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Tuesday following a mixed performance from the technology stocks and weakness from the financials and plastics.

For the day, the index added 56.12 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 16,437.61 after trading between 16,407.83 and 16,535.07.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.88 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.84 percent, CTBC Financial retreated 1.26 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.48 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 0.80 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 0.74 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation eased 0.11 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.47 percent, Largan Precision fell 0.25 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.89 percent, MediaTek rose 0.45 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.90 percent, Novatek Microelectronics increased 0.26 percent, Formosa Plastics fell 0.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics declined 1.21 percent, Asia Cement slumped 0.50 percent, China Steel tumbled 1.48 percent and First Financial and Taiwan Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and quickly turned lower, although the NASDAQ managed to finish in the green.

The Dow dropped 174.86 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 34,288.83, while the NASDAQ rose 8.28 points or 0.06 percent to close at 13,505.87 and the S&P 500 slipped 12.22 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,387.55.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders continued to look ahead to the economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this week.

Early volatility in the bond market may also have contributed to the choppy trading, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note showing wild swings back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales in the U.S. slumped much more than expected in July.

Crude oil futures eased on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September slipped $0.37 or 0.5 percent at $80.35 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see July numbers for industrial production later today; in June, output was down 16.63 percent on year.