Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 1,300 points or 3.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 33,350-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the conflict in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index slumped 101.49 points or 0.30 percent to finish at the daily low of 33,337.62 after peaking at 33,892.56.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rose 0.33 percent, while Mega Financial dipped 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial shed 0.47 percent, First Financial fell 0.17 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.23 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.78 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slipped 0.27 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.52 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.25 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.45 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.07 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.85 percent, Delta Electronics tanked 2.26 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surged 3.84 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 3.94 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 1.58 percent and Asia Cement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and continued to trend sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 469.38 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 45,960.11, while the NASDAQ plummeted 521.75 points or 2.38 percent to close at 21,408.08 and the S&P 500 slumped 114.74 points or 1.74 percent to end at 6,477.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street extended the see-saw trend seen over the past few sessions, as traders reacted to continued volatility by the price of crude oil.

Crude prices skyrocketed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff over the 15-point peace proposal deepens the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $4.51 or 4.99 percent at $94.83 per barrel.

Concerns about further widening of the conflict also weighed on the markets after several Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran's "criminal" attacks on their energy infrastructure.