Taiwan Shares May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,900 points or 6.3 percent to a record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 30,435-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, as traders are expected to lock in gains with several markets at or near record highs. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial and cement sectors, while the plastics were up and the technology shares were mixed.

For the day, the index stumbled 140.83 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 30,435.47 after trading between 30,306.16 and 30,570.26.

Among the actives, Mega Financial perked 0.12 percent, while CTBC Financial skidded 1.00 percent, First Financial fell 0.34 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 1.13 percent, E Sun Financial retreated 1.34 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 1.76 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 9.96 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.06 percent, Largan Precision added 0.59 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.48 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.30 percent, Delta Electronics rose 0.27 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surged 10.74 percent, Formosa Plastics vaulted 6.41 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 9.85 percent, Asia Cement stumbled 2.65 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day before a late slump saw them end mixed.

The Dow dropped 466.00 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 48,996.08, while the NASDAQ rose 37.10 points or 0.16 percent to close at 23,584.28 and the S&P 500 sank 23.89 points or 0.34 percent to end at 6,920.93.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs on Tuesday.

Traders were also digesting the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment increased less than expected in December.

Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. fell more than expected in November, while the Institute for Supply Management noted an unexpected increase by its reading on U.S. service sector activity in December.

Crude oil prices plunged again on Wednesday due to emerging supply side concerns following U.S. attempts to gain control of Venezuelan oil wealth. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.11 or 1.94 percent at $56.02 per barrel.