Taiwan Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The losing streak has hit three sessions for the Taiwan stock market, which has skidded more than 80 points or 1 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just shy of the 8,280-point plateau, and the market is looking at continued consolidation again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to renewed downward pressure on the price of crude oil - while profit taking ahead of the year's end also is likely. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished slightly lower on Wednesday following weakness from the cement stocks and a mixed performance from the technology shares.

For the day, the index slipped 13.92 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 8,279.99 after trading between 8,262.52 and 8,342.34 on turnover of 53.25 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.4 percent, while Hon Hai Precision Industry collected 0.2 percent, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering dropped 2.0 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.8 percent and Taiwan Cement skidded 1.6 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved lower on Wednesday as some traders locked in profits ahead of the impending New Year's holiday.

The Dow closed 117.24 points, or 0.66 percent, lower at 17,603.74, while the S&P 500 lost 15.01 points or 0.72 percent to 2,063.35 and the NASDAQ fell 42.09 points or 0.82 percent to end at 5,065.85.

Weighing on the markets, Nymex February crude oil plunged $1.27 or 3.4 percent to end at $36.60 a barrel.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index fell 0.9 percent in November, indicating the third decline in the last four months.