Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 3,000 points or 6.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 44,700-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative as hostilities in the Middle East tick higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asin bourses are likely to follow that lead.

The Taiwan stock market finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index spiked 1,201.66 points or 2.76 percent to finish at 44,704.44 after trading between 43,687.62 and 44,821.71.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial soared 9.47 percent, while Mega Financial spiked 5.70 percent, CTBC Financial collected 5.81 percent, First Financial expanded 4.81 percent, Fubon Financial rallied 7.76 percent, E Sun Financial climbed 3.95 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.44 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation accelerated 5.37 percent, Hon Hai Precision improved 2.97 percent, Largan Precision surged 9.90 percent, MediaTek skyrocketed 9.97 percent, Delta Electronics vaulted 7.10 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 1.59 percent, Formosa Plastics shed 0.65 percent, Nan Ya Plastics jumped 1.74 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.44 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher but quickly tailed off into the red, although the Dow managed to creep back above water by the end of the day.

The Dow added 86.10 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 50,872.11, while the NASDAQ slumped 250.84 points or 0.97 percent to end at 25,678.82 and the S&P 500 slipped 19.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 7,386.65.

The notable pullback by the NASDAQ came amid renewed weakness among tech stocks, which had regained some ground on Monday following last Friday's sell-off.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the sector lower before rebounding, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 1.9 percent, while computer hardware, networking and software stocks also moved significantly lower.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices plunged on Tuesday after Israel and Iran halted their exchange of attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.11 or 3.41 percent at $88.19 per barrel.

However, sentiment took a hit after the markets closed as the U.S. launched a fresh attack on Iran in response to the loss of a helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.