The Taiwan stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 170 points or 0.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,900-point plateau although it\'s expected to rebound again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher ahead of key inflation data later today. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the plastics and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index sank 80.71 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 22,905.98 after trading between 22,765.16 and 22,922.56.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.67 percent, while CTBC Financial perked 0.13 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.77 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.69 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.35 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.19 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.09 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.44 percent, MediaTek sank 0.71 percent, Delta Electronics rose 0.39 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.14 percent, Formosa Plastics slid 0.35 percent, Nan Ya Plastics was down 0.41 percent, Asia Cement advanced 0.80 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Mega Financial and First Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line all day Thursday before finally settling with mild gains.
The Dow added 36.26 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 39,164.06, while the NASDAQ gained 53.53 points or 0.30 percent to close at 17,858.68 and the S&P 500 rose 4.97 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,482.87.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key inflation data later today.
The Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in May, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve; the report could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly crept higher last month.
Oil futures settled higher Thursday on hopes about the outlook for demand, and on concerns about possible supply disruptions due to tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August added $0.84 at $81.74 a barrel.