The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, sliding almost 100 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 11,560-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continued concerns over the prospects for a trade deal between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and technology stocks.
For the day, the index shed 72.93 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 11,558.27 after trading between 11,478.43 and 11,573.84.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.59 percent, while Mega Financial dropped 0.98 percent, CTBC Financial sank 0.68 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 0.88 percent, First Financial declined 1.09 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.73 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.80 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation lost 0.68 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.65 percent, Largan Precision plunged 2.93 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 1.28 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.81 percent, Asia Cement eased 0.11 percent and Taiwan Cement was down 0.70 percent.
The lead from Wall Street continues to be negative as stocks opened lower on Thursday and stayed that way throughout the day, extending losses from the previous session.
The Dow shed 54.80 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 27,766.29, while the NASDAQ lost 20.52 points or 0.24 percent to 8,506.21 and the S&P 500 fell 4.92 points or 0.15 percent to 3,103.54.
The continued weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed uncertainty about the U.S. and China finalizing a phase one trade deal after reports said completion of a phase one U.S.-China trade deal could slide into next year.
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits were unchanged last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said U.S. existing home sales rebounded more than expected in October.
Crude oil prices rebounded from early losses and moved higher to their best levels in two months on Thursday, on news that OPEC and its allies will likely extent output cuts beyond March 2020. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended up $1.57 or 2.8 percent at $58.58 a barrel.
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