(RTTNews) – Taiwan’s stock market ended lower in two straight sessions, dropping more than 340 points or 1.9% along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange is now just below the 18,000-point plateau and is eyeing another red light for Tuesday’s trading. The global outlook for Asian markets is negative on fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, although crude oil prices may limit the downside. European and American markets were down and Asian exchanges are expected to open similarly.
The TSE ended sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board – especially among financials, tech stocks and cement companies. For the day, the index plunged 313.27 points or 1.71% to end at 17,997.67 after trading between 17,965.22 and 18,182.73. Among assets, Cathay Financial slipped 2.13%, while Mega Financial fell 0.90%, CTBC Financial lost 0.69%, Fubon Financial fell 1.55%, First Financial lost 0 .56%, E Sun Financial fell 0.16%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell 2.00%. United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 4.33%, Hon Hai Precision fell 1.89%, Largan Precision fell 1.42%, Catcher Technology fell 1.60%, MediaTek fell 3.91%, Delta Electronics stumbled 3.58%, Formosa Plastic slipped 0.94%, Nan Ya Plastic fell 0.45%. , Asia Cement fell 0.44% and Taiwan Cement weakened 0.84%.
Wall Street’s lead is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and spent most of the day in the red before ending slightly lower.
The Dow fell 171.89 points or 0.49% to end at 34,566.17, while the NASDAQ fell 0.24 points or 0.00% to close at 13,790.92 and the S&P 500 fell 16.97 points or 0.38% to end at 4,401.67.
Wall Street’s continued weakness came as traders closely watched the evolving tensions between Ukraine and Russia. President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend, but there has been little progress in defusing the situation.
Traders also remained cautious about the outlook for monetary policy following mixed remarks from Federal Reserve officials, with interest rates expected to rise as early as next month.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on growing fears that Russia could attack Ukraine in the near future. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March ended up $2.36 or 2.5% at $95.46 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2014.
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