Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, falling more than 185 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,640-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished slightly lower again on Tuesday following losses from the financials, plastics and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index fell 9.69 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 16,642.55 after trading between 16,618.30 and 16,770.64.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 0.55 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.79 percent, First Financial slid 0.37 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.49 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.10 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 2.23 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.47 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.41 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.38 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.79 percent, Delta Electronics skidded 1.08 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.35 percent, Formosa Plastics dropped 0.50 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 0.15 percent, Asia Cement slumped 0.25 percent, Taiwan Cement dipped 0.45 percent and China Steel and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages open sharply lower on Tuesday but fought back into the green before finally settling mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.11 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 33,997,65, while the NASDAQ shed 34.24 points or 0.25 percent to close at 13,533.75 and the S&P 500 eased 0.43 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,373.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street came after data showed bigger than expected increases in retail sales and industrial production last month, raising concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for longer or even announce a rate hike this year.

Higher bond yields and geopolitical concerns in the Middle East also kept investors wary.

Crude oil futures settled flat on Tuesday after a lackluster session as investors continued to track the developments on the geopolitical front and weighed the outlook for global demand and supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended at $86.66 a barrel, unchanged from the previous close.