Oversold Taiwan Stock Market Due For Support

The Taiwan stock market has tracked lower in five straight sessions, slumping almost 900 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 19,900-point plateau and it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with bargain hunting pitted against interest rate concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, technology stocks and plastics.

For the day, the index tumbled 547.81 points or 2.68 percent to finish at 18,901.96 after trading between 19,844.54 and 20,365.11.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial declined 2.25 percent, while Mega Financial lost 1.76 percent, CTBC Financial tumbled 3.13 percent, First Financial weakened 1.65 percent, Fubon Financial sank 2.52 percent, E Sun Financial slumped 2.77 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 2.23 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 2.91 percent, Hon Hai Precision tanked 3.42 percent, Largan Precision retreated 3.05 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.97 percent, MediaTek plunged 4.95 percent, Delta Electronics plummeted 4.87 percent, Novatek Microelectronics stumbled 2.59 percent, Formosa Plastics fell 2.30 percent, Nan Ya Plastics lost 2.97 percent, Asia Cement slid 1.55 percent, Taiwan Cement added 0.31 percent and China Steel was down 1.22 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and, after some volatility, ended on opposite sides of the line and little changed.

The Dow added 63.86 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 37,798.97, while the NASDAQ shed 19.77 points or 0.12 percent to close at 15,865.25 and the S&P 500 sank 10.41 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,051.41.

The lack of direction shown by the markets came as traders weighed the idea of picking up stocks at relatively reduced levels against concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note reached its highest intraday levels in almost six months after the Federal Reserve released a report showing a continued increase in U.S. industrial production in the month of March.

Adding to the rate worries, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated in remarks that rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Crude oil showed a lack of direction on Tuesday before easing slightly as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated the U.S. plans to impose new sanctions on Iran in response to the country's attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dipped $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $85.36 a barrel.

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