(RTTNews) – The Taiwan stock market has closed lower in five straight sessions, slumping more than 675 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 16,000-point plateau although it’s expected to stop the bleeding on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after brutal selling over the past week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index shed 48.12 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 15,999.25 after trading between 15,981.56 and 16,106.75.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.37 percent, while Mega Financial tumbled 1.90 percent, CTBC Financial climbed 1.15 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.32 percent, First Financial lost 0.38 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 1.02 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.78 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.10 percent, Hon Hai Precision and MediaTek both added 0.45 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.45 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.89 percent, Delta Electronics declined 1.53 percent, Nan Ya Plastics improved 0.60 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.80 percent, Taiwan Cement eased 0.12 percent and Formosa Plastics was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened solidly higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the day, finishing near session highs.
The Dow climbed 303.70 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 30,668.53, while the NASDAQ surged 270.81 points or 2.50 percent to end at 11,099.15 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.51 points or 1.46 percent to close at 3,789.99.
The rally on Wall Street came even as the Federal Reserve announced the biggest increase in interest rates in almost 30 years. The Fed raised the target rate for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points to 1.50 to 1.75 percent, marking the biggest rate hike since 1994.
The widely expected move by the Fed comes as a recent report from the Labor Department showed consumer price inflation at the fastest annual rate in 40 years. Citing its goals of maximum employment and inflation at a rate of 2 percent over the longer run, the Fed also indicated that further rate hikes are likely to be appropriate.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected decrease in U.S. retail sales in May, while a separate report showed U.S. import prices increased by less than expected. Also, the National Association of Home Builders said homebuilder confidence fell to its lowest level since June 2020.
Crude oil prices slumped on Wednesday after data showed a jump in oil inventories in the U.S. last week, and the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a sharp 0.75 percent. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped by $2.21 or 1.8 percent to $116.72 a barrel.
Closer to home, the de facto central bank in Taiwan will conclude its monetary policy meeting later today and announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate from 1.375 percent to 1.50 percent.
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