The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, plummeting more than 700 points or 4.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 16,580-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and stimulus. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board - especially from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 652.47 points or 3.79 percent to finish at 16,583.13 after trading between 16,460.87 and 17,137.19.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial skidded 2.75 percent, while Mega Financial declined 1.67 percent, CTBC Financial sank 1.25 percent, Fubon Financial surrendered 2.35 percent, First Financial gave away 1.75 percent, E Sun Financial slid 2.05 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 3.06 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 6.67 percent, Hon Hai Precision tanked 5.31 percent, Largan Precision retreated 3.79 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 2.62 percent, MediaTek plummeted 6.95 percent, Formosa Plastic cratered 3.30 percent, Asia Cement fell 1.57 percent and Taiwan Cement was down 2.46 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.
The Dow plunged 473.66 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 34,269.16, while the NASDAQ dipped 12.43 points or 0.09 percent to end at 13,389.43 and the S&P 500 fell 36.33 points or 0.87 percent to close at 4,152.10.
The weakness on Wall Street reflected concerns about an acceleration in the rate of inflation and potential monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.
Adding to the inflation concerns, the Labor Department said the number of job openings reached a series high of 8.1 million on the last business day of March. The data led to worries that employers will have to raise wages to entice workers, which could prompt higher inflation.
Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday following a report from OPEC that said demand is expected to rise by 5.95 million barrels per day or 6.6 percent this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.36 or 0.6 percent at $65.28 a barrel.
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