The Taiwan stock market has finished lower now in four consecutive trading days, giving away more than 400 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 8,975-point plateau, and the market is looking at another soft start again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fraught with concern over the health of the Chinese stock market, which has plummeted in recent weeks despite a series of market-stabilizing measures by authorities. Uncertainty regarding the Greek debt situation adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday with broadly based losses - particularly among the technology stocks, financials and plastics.
For the day, the index dropped 274.05 points or 2.96 percent to finish at 8,976.11 after trading between 8,946.75 and 9,225.91 on turnover of 141.79 billion new Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 1.78 percent, while Hon Hai Precision Industry shed 2.88 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 4.93 percent, Fubon Financial Holding lost 3.23 percent, Cathay Financial Holding fell 3.85 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 2.78 percent and Nan Ya Plastics slipped 3.82 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on Wednesday after rebounding in the previous session.
The Dow tumbled 261.49 points or 1.5 percent to 17,515.42, while the NASDAQ plunged 87.70 points or 1.8 percent to 4,909.76 and the S&P 500 plummeted 34.65 points or 1.7 percent to 2,046.69.
The sell-off came as Chinese stocks extended their recent steep decline. Almost half of China's roughly 2,800 listed firms announced trading halts as increasing signs of deleveraging drove down stocks across the board. There were fears that a prolonged slump would cause systematic risk for the country's financial system.
Traders also kept an eye on the latest developments regarding the Greek debt crisis after European leaders set Sunday as the final deadline for Greece to reach an agreement on a new bailout.
Some additional negative sentiment was generated by news that the New York Stock Exchange temporarily suspended trading in all symbols due to an internal technical issue.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com