The Taiwan stock market has moved lower now in five straight sessions, sliding almost 85 points or 0.9 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just below the 9,850-point plateau, although the market may finally halt its slide on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following positive economic data and a bounce in the price of crude oil. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished barely lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and financial shares.
For the day, the index eased 8.10 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 9,848.15 after trading between 9,878.62 and 9,836.33 on turnover of 89.06 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Innolux plummeted 3.10 percent, while Hon Hai Precision shed 0.1 percent, AU Optronics skidded 1.24 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Largan Precision were unchanged, Fubon Financial lost 1.09 percent and Cathay Financial tumbled 1.20 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks moved higher on Thursday, allowing the tech-heavy NASDAQ to hit a new record closing high.
The Dow added 69.17 points or 0.3 percent to 20,728.49, while the NASDAQ climbed 16.80 points or 0.3 percent to 5,914.34 and the S&P rose 6.93 points or 0.3 percent to 2,368.06.
The support followed a Commerce Department report showing better than estimated economic growth in Q4 of 2016. A separate report from the Labor Department showed a drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended March 25th.
However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid continued uncertainty about the outlook for President Donald Trump's policy agenda.
Crude oil futures jumped back above $50 a barrel Thursday, as Kuwait signaled support for the six-month extension of OPEC's supply quota plan. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 85 cents to $50.36 a barrel.
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