Taiwan Bourse May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday saw an end to the six-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 1,350 points or 4.8 percent. The Taiwan stock market now rests just above the 28,700-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft as investors may look to book gains before the year's end. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets also figure to tick lower.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology and plastics companies, while the financial sector was mixed.

For the day, the index sank 103.76 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 28,707.13 after trading between 28,553.64 and 28,833.03.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.26 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.50 percent, CTBC Financial lost 0.40 percent, First Financial advanced 0.85 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 1.22 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.59 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sank 0.65 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.30 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.30 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.20 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.73 percent, Delta Electronics eased 0.10 percent, Novatek Microelectronics contracted 0.53 percent, Formosa Plastics skidded 1.01 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.68 percent, Asia Cement improved 0.82 percent and MediaTek was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent most of the day slightly in the red, ending near session lows.

The Dow sank 94.87 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 48,367.06, while the NASDAQ lost 55.27 points or 0.24 percent to close at 23,419.08 and the S&P 500 slipped 9.50 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,896.24.

Traders initially seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.

However, trading activity remained subdued after the release of the minutes, which reiterated officials' mixed views about the outlook for interest rates. Participants expressed a "range of views" about the restrictiveness of the Fed's current monetary policy stance.

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for January 27-28, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicating an 83.9 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

Crude oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as U.S. data showed a modest build in crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $0.16 or 0.28 percent at $57.92 per barrel.