(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, sinking almost 1,300 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 32,610-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests renewed pressure thanks to a rebound by crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished modestly lower again on Tuesday following mixed performances from the plastics stocks and technology companies, while the financials were up.
For the day, the index sank 110.26 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 32,612.24 after trading between 32,434.54 and 33,361.46.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.33 percent, while Mega Financial vaulted 1.30 percent, First Financial expanded 1.60 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.35 percent, E Sun Financial climbed 1.28 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation slipped 0.35 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.51 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.22 percent, Catcher Technology spiked 3.29 percent, MediaTek fell 0.31 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.35 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.54 percent, Formosa Plastics added 0.67 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tumbled 2.03 percent, Asia Cement jumped 1.46 percent and CTBC Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and bounced back and forth cross the unchanged line before settling slightly in the red.
The Dow shed 84.41 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 46,124.06, while the NASDAQ dropped 184.87 points or 0.84 percent to end at 21,761.89 and the S&P 500 sank 24.63 points or 0.37 percent to close at 6,556.37.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, with international benchmark Brent crude futures surging back above $100 a barrel.
Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as market participants found U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of U.S.-Iran peace talks to be unfounded. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.90 or 4.43 percent at $92.03 per barrel.
Iran's foreign ministry said Trump's remarks were "part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time" for military plans.
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