The Taiwan stock market on Wednesday halted the four-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 680 points or 3.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 23,000-point plateau although its expected to open in the green on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on optimism ahead of key U.S. economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies.
For the day, the index stumbled 281.06 points or 1.21 percent to finish at 23,010.98 after trading between 22,866.73 and 23,258.52.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial lost 1.45 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.51 percent, CTBC Financial dipped 0.14 percent, First Financial declined 1.10 percent, Fubon Financial shed 1.74 percent, E Sun Financial slumped 1.05 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 2.34 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.71 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 0.97 percent, Catcher Technology tanked 2.26 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.92 percent, Delta Electronics surrendered 2.38 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 1.56 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.83 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.94 percent, Asia Cement stumbled 1.83 percent and Largan Precision was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly headed higher and finished well in positive territory.
The Dow rallied 337.28 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 43,077.70, while the NASDAQ gained 51.49 points or 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08 and the S&P 500 added 27.21 points or 0.47 percent to end at 5,842.47.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on continued optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy ahead of the release of several key reports later this week including weekly jobless claims, retail sales and industrial production.
In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing a continued decrease by prices for U.S. imports and exports in September.
Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about weak demand from China and easing geopolitical worries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.19 at $70.39 a barrel.