Taiwan Stock Market Overdue For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Peace Memorial Day, the Taiwan stock market had tracked higher in eight straight sessions, skyrocketing more than 3,650 points or 10.1 percent in that span. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 35,400-point plateau although it's likely to see for profit taking on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Israel against Iran. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished barely higher again on Thursday following weakness from the plastics and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index perked 1.42 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 35,414.49 after trading between 35,171.52 and 35,579.34.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial rose 0.33 percent, while CTBC Financial dipped 0.16 percent, Fubon Financial collected 1.40 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.43 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.99 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation eased 0.15 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.42 percent, Largan Precision surged 4.35 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.52 percent, MediaTek soared 4.01 percent, Delta Electronics fell 0.35 percent, Novatek Microelectronics vaulted 1.55 percent, Formosa Plastics plunged 3.37 percent, Nan Ya Plastics stumbled 3.27 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.14 percent and Mega Financial and First Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 521.28 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 48,977.92, while the NASDAQ sank 210.17 points or 0.92 percent to end at 22,668.21 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,878.88.

For the week, the Dow tumbled 1.3 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent.

The continued weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased 0.5 percent in January, more than the expected 0.3 percent.

The jump in producer prices along with concerns about AI-related layoffs led to worries about a period of stagflation. Adding to recent concerns about potential AI disruptions, Block (XYZ) said it is cutting its workforce by nearly half.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday amid growing concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April surged $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 barrel - although it's expected to jump sharply again now that hostilities have broken out.