(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market turned emphatically lower again on Tuesday, one day after halting the four-day losing streak in which it had plunged nearly 630 points or 3.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,700-point plateau and it's expected to take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is one of volatile anxiety ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement later today, with tech shares expected to weigh heavily. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board - especially among the technology stocks and financial shares.
For the day, the index tanked 287.92 points or 1.60 percent to finish at 17,701.12 after trading between 17,645.66 and 17,890.71.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial tanked 2.02 percent, while CTBC Financial dropped 0.91 percent, Fubon Financial declined 1.31 percent, First Financial dipped 0.20 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 1.84 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surrendered 1.76 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.72 percent, Catcher Technology retreated 1.27 percent, MediaTek shed 0.46 percent, Delta Electronics skidded 1.10 percent, Formosa Plastic slumped 0.95 percent, Asia Cement stumbled 1.12 percent, Taiwan Cement lost 0.74 percent and Hon Hai Precision, Mega Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout most of the trading day.
The Dow shed 66.77 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 34,297.73, while the NASDAQ plummeted 315.83 points or 2.28 percent to end at 13,539.29 and the S&P 500 sank 53.68 points or 1.22 percent to close at 4,356.45.
The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. The Fed is likely to leave interest rates unchanged, although the accompanying statement could hint at the first rate hike as early as the next meeting in March.
The recovery attempt by the Dow was due to a rally by shares of American Express (AXP), fueled by better than expected fourth quarter results. Dow components Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and IBM Corp. (IBM) also posted strong Q4 gains that beat the street.
In U.S. economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence pulled back less than expected in January.
Crude oil prices moved sharply higher Tuesday, recovering after the previous session's decline amid a drop in supplies in the market due to growing tension in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.29 or 2.8 percent at $85.60 a barrel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
