On Wednesday, the Taiwan stock market ended its three-day rally, during which it surged by over 800 points or 3.4%. The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) now remains slightly above the 23,400 mark, with the potential for further declines anticipated on Thursday.
The global outlook for Asian markets appears stagnant and uncertain due to contrasting influences on interest rate expectations. European and U.S. markets exhibited mixed and minimal changes, suggesting that Asian markets might mirror this trend.
The TSE experienced a notable drop on Wednesday, influenced by losses in the technology, cement, and plastics sectors, while the financial sector showed mixed results. For the session, the index dropped 243.94 points, or 1.03%, concluding at 23,407.33, with trading oscillating between 23,388.63 and 23,671.28.
Key active stocks included:
- Cathay Financial, down 0.43%
- Mega Financial, up 0.39%
- First Financial, gaining 0.54%
- Fubon Financial, declining 0.87%
- E Sun Financial, up 0.74%
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, down 2.21%
- United Microelectronics Corporation, up 0.83%
- Hon Hai Precision, down 1.05%
- Largan Precision, down 2.06%
- Catcher Technology, down 0.25%
- MediaTek, down 1.34%
- Delta Electronics, down 0.93%
- Novatek Microelectronics, up 0.60%
- Formosa Plastics, down 3.76%
- Nan Ya Plastics, down 2.17%
- Asia Cement, down 1.60%
- CTBC Financial, unchanged
Wall Street's lead indicates marginal activity, with major indices opening slightly lower on Wednesday, fluctuating throughout the day, and concluding with mixed and negligible changes. This volatile performance stemmed from uncertainties regarding the future direction of interest rates, exemplified by mixed U.S. employment data.
ADP reported a larger-than-expected slowdown in private sector job growth for December. Conversely, the Labor Department revealed an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims, reaching their lowest level in nearly 11 months. The Federal Reserve, in its recently released monetary policy meeting minutes, offered limited insights on interest rate projections but emphasized a "cautious approach" for future decisions.
Oil futures also closed lower on Wednesday, influenced by a significant rise in gasoline inventories and a strengthening dollar, exerting downward pressure on oil prices. Specifically, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February decreased by $0.93, or 1.25%, to settle at $73.32 per barrel.
On the domestic front, Taiwan is set to release December figures for imports, exports, and trade balance later today. In November, imports grew by 19.8% year-on-year, exports increased by 9.7%, resulting in a trade surplus of $7.92 billion.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company -
www.instaforex.com
