(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one session after snapping the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 170 points or 1.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 12,585-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on coronavirus concerns, stimulus questions and falling oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished barely lower on Tuesday following losses from the cement and plastic stocks, while the financials and technology shares were mixed.
For the day, the index eased 1.57 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 12,586.73 after trading between 12,533.19 and 13,031.70.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.25 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.16 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.24 percent, First Financial collected 0.65 percent, E Sun Financial plunged 4.29 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 2.47 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation spiked 2.53 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.51 percent, Largan Precision accelerated 2.49 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.89 percent, MediaTek plummeted 6.59 percent, Asia Cement tumbled 2.21 percent, Taiwan Cement lost 0.22 percent, Formosa Plastic dropped 1.02 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Tuesday, largely offsetting the upward move seen in the previous session.
The Dow dropped 205.49 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 26,379.28, while the NASDAQ sank 134.18 points or 1.27 percent to end at 10,402.09 and the S&P 500 fell 20.97 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 3,218.44.
The pullback by stocks came as traders kept an eye on developments in Washington after Republicans unveiled their version of a new coronavirus relief bill. The GOP bill includes popular provisions like another $1,200 stimulus payment to American as well as more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
However, the legislation also slashes unemployment benefits and provides liability protections for businesses and doctors, which could lead to an impasse in negotiations with Democrats.
Negative sentiment was also generated by a report from the Conference Board showing consumer confidence fell more than expected in July.
Traders were also looking ahead to today's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about future plans to provide additional economic stimulus.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for near term energy demand due to the surge in coronavirus cases and fears of fresh lockdown measures. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September slid $0.56 or 1.4 percent at $41.04 a barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will provide July results for its consumer confidence index later today; in June, the index score was 68.77.
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