The Taiwan stock market has closed lower now in consecutive trading days, dipping almost 125 points or 1.5 percent in the process. The Taiwan Stock Exchange ended just above the 7,700-point plateau, and now traders are looking for a mild recovery when the market kicks off trade on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be mixed, with concerns about the global economy offset by upbeat U.S. economic data. The worries about the global economy stemmed from news that the World Bank cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2013. However, the Federal Reserve reported a bigger than expected increase in U.S. industrial production in December. The European and U.S. markets were mixed again and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, cement, plastics, technology, textile, paper and finance sectors – while the construction shares were largely unchanged.
For the day, the index dipped 64.59 points or 0.83 percent to finish at the daily low of 7,700.43 after peaking at 7,769.18 on turnover of 83.44 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the decliners, TPK Holding shed 2.34 percent, while MediaTek fell 0.64 percent, MStar Semiconductor dropped 3.10 percent, Uni-President Enterprises dipped 2.40 percent and Nan Ya Plastics retreated 1.52 percent.
The lead from Wall Street again provides little in the way of clarity as stocks were relatively lackluster on Wednesday, extending a recent sideways move. The major averages ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line for the fourth consecutive session.
Worries about the global economy stemmed from news that the World Bank cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2013. The World Bank now expects the global economy to expand by 2.4 percent in 2013 compared to its June forecast for 3 percent. Estimates suggest the global economy grew 2.3 percent in 2012.
But the negative sentiment was partly offset by a report from the Federal Reserve showing that industrial production increased by 0.3 percent in December following a revised 1.0 percent jump in November. Economists had expected production to edge up by 0.2 percent. The increase came as increased manufacturing and mining output more than offset a sharp drop in utilities output.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices were unchanged in December, while the National Association of Home Builders said homebuilder confidence held steady at a six-year high in January.
Traders shrugged off the Fed’s Beige Book report, which said U.S. economic activity has expanded since the previous report. The report, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the twelve Fed districts, said all of the districts said economic growth was either modest or moderate.
On the earnings front, financial giants Goldman Sachs (GS) and JP Morgan (JPM) moved notably higher after reporting better than expected earnings.
The major U.S. averages were mixed again on Wednesday as the Dow dipped 23.66 points or 0.2 percent to finish at 13,511.23, while the NASDAQ rose 6.76 points or 0.2 percent to close at 3,117.54 and the S&P 500 inched up 0.29 points or less than a tenth of a percent to end at 1,472.63.
by RTT Staff Writer
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