(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, dropping almost 100 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,875-point plateau although it may see a positive bounce on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests a higher open on a technical rebound, with bargain hunting expected. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index sank 71.97 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 10,875.91 after trading between 10,809.28 and 10,888.40.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial sank 1.47 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.17 percent, CTBC Financial retreated 1.20 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 1.45 percent, First Financial slid 0.68 percent, E Sun Financial declined 0.76 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.07 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.74 percent, Hon Hai Precision fell 0.41 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.66 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 2.19 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.02 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.82 percent and Taiwan Cement dipped 0.64 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks shook off early volatility on Thursday to move mostly higher - offsetting the steep losses from the previous two sessions.
The Dow added 122.42 points or 0.47 percent to 26,201.04, while the NASDAQ rose 87.02 points or 1.12 percent to 7,872.27 and the S&P 500 gained 23.02 points or 0.80 percent to 2,910.63.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street was partly due to bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.
Confidence the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates also contributed to the rebound, as traders digested a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. service growth slowed by more than expected in September.
Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday, extending losses to an eighth straight session, amid rising possibilities of a drop in near term energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 or 0.4 percent at $52.45 a barrel, the lowest settlement in nearly two months.
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