The five-day winning streak has come to an end for the Taiwan stock market after it had gathered more than 150 points or 1.8 percent in that span to touch a fresh 16-month closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange finished just above the 7,700-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting continued weakness at the opening of trade on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly negative, thanks to disappointing corporate results and economic data. Airlines, financials and technology stocks are likely to be weak, although gains among oil and commodities may provide support. Also key will be China's Q3 GDP data, which could provide a drag if it misses expectations.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Wednesday, thanks to profit taking after the recent rally. Financials and paper stocks ended lower, while the technology, food and textile shares also were down.
For the day, the index declined 52.02 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 7,701.50 after trading between 7,774.4 and 7,675.61. Volume was 4.62 billion shares worth 124.62 billion Taiwan dollars. There were 1,801 decliners and 752 gainers, with 203 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the decliners, Mediatek shed 0.77 percent, while TSMC eased 0.65 percent, Hon Hai lost 1.13 percent and AU Optronics fell 2 percent. Bucking the trend, Powerchip Semiconductor added 3.03 percent and Nanya Tech gained 0.23 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is firmly negative as stocks came under pressure in the latter part of the trading day on Wednesday after moving mostly higher for much of the trading session. The major averages pulled back firmly into negative territory, moving further off Monday's one-year closing highs.
The downturn by the broader markets was attributed in part to negative comments from influential financial analyst Dick Bove, who downgraded his rating on Wells Fargo (WFC) to Sell. The news contributed to a substantial sell-off by financial stocks. While Wells Fargo beat profit and revenue estimates this morning, Bove said that the firm's fees helped it clear forecasts rather than a pick up in business. Wells Fargo fell by 5.1 percent on the day, setting a two-week low.
The day's mixed earnings news and the Federal Reserve's latest economic commentary indicating an essential standstill in the labor market may have also prompted the day's late session profit taking. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report released this afternoon noted that the twelve Fed districts have indicated either stabilization or modest improvements in many sectors since the last report.
The report showed that residential real estate and manufacturing led the more positive sector reports, with both sectors continuing a pattern of improvement that emerged over the summer. However, the Fed noted that commercial real estate was reported to be one of the weakest sectors, while labor markets were typically characterized as weak or mixed.
This morning, stocks recovered after disappointing results from Boeing (BA) prompted a mild pullback at the opening bell, with the aerospace giant reporting a wider than expected third quarter loss. The company also slashed its full year earnings forecast. Morgan Stanley (MS), Yahoo (YHOO), and Eli Lilly (LLY) largely beat estimates, while some shortfalls in quarterly revenues led to continued concerns regarding growth prospects.
The major averages continued to move lower going into the close, ending the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow fell by 92.12 points or 0.9 percent to 9,949.36, the NASDAQ declined by 12.74 points or 0.6 percent to 2,150.73 while the S&P 500 slipped by 9.66 points or 0.9 percent to 1,081.40.
In economic news, Taiwan will on Thursday provide September numbers for commercial sales and unemployment. Commercial sales are seen lower by 0.9 percent on year after the 2.12 percent annual contraction in August. The unemployment rate is expected to ease to 6.07 percent from the current 6.13 percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.