The Taiwan stock market has ended lower now in five straight sessions, declining more than 330 points or 3.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange finished just below the 8,490-point plateau, although now investors may be tempted to scoop up bargains at the opening of trade on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with many of the regional bourses still oversold and due for bargain hunting. Commodities and steel stocks are expected to lead the way, although technology stocks could remain soft. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly in positive territory, and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The TSE finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the technology and financial sectors were limited by gains from the plastic, cement and textile stocks.
For the day, the index eased 2.95 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 8,488.06 after trading between 8,452.86 and 8,539.18 on turnover of 114.94 million Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, HTC plunged 4.92 percent and Hon Hai Precision shed 3.68 percent, while Nan Ya Plastics jumped 4.63 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 5.42 percent and Taiwan Cement climbed 3.23 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks showed a strong upward move on Wednesday morning, although buying interest waned in the afternoon. The major averages subsequently pulled back well off their best levels of the day but still managed close in positive territory.
Much of the buying interest stemmed from comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who testified before the House Financial Services Committee. Bernanke said that the recent sluggishness in the U.S. economy is the result of temporary factors, including high energy prices and supply disruptions caused by Japan's tsunami. He added that the Fed expects to see stronger economic activity and job creation once the shocks subside.
"However, given the range of uncertainties about the strength of the recovery and prospects for inflation over the medium term, the Federal Reserve remains prepared to respond should economic developments indicate that an adjustment in the stance of monetary policy would be appropriate," Bernanke said.
The Fed Chief noted that the central bank has a number of ways it could act to ease financial conditions further even though interest rates are already at near-zero levels.
The early strength on Wall Street also came as better than expected economic data from China eased some of the recent concerns about the global economic outlook.
However, stocks gave back some ground in afternoon trading due in part to news that Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating deeper into junk status, lowering the rating to 'CCC' from 'B+.' Fitch cited the absence of a new, fully-funded and credible EU-IMF program, coupled with heightened uncertainty surrounding the role of private creditors in any future funding as well as the country's weakening macroeconomic outlook.
The pullback by the markets also reflected concerns about whether or not Democrats and Republicans will be able to come to an agreement on raising the debt limit before the August 2nd deadline.
After rising more than 160 points at its high for the session, the Dow ended the day up by 44.73 points or 0.4 percent at 12,491.61. The NASDAQ rose by 15.01 points or 0.5 percent to 2,796.92 and the S&P 500 edged up by 4.08 points or 0.3 percent to 1,317.72.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.