The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had retreated more than 105 points or 0.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,900-point plateau and it figures to take further damage on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets remains broadly negative on continuing trade war concerns and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished sharply lower with damage across the board - particularly among the financials and technology stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 183.28 points or 1.65 percent to finish at the daily low of 10,904.19 after peaking at 11,008.77 on turnover of 169.50 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 2.60 percent, while United Microelectronics surrendered 2.41 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 2.35 percent, Largan Precision plummeted 5.23 percent, Fubon Financial shed 1.30 percent, Cathay Financial fell 0.54 percent, Mega Financial lost 1.50 percent, CTBC Financial tumbled 2.48 percent, Taiwan Cement plunged 3.09 percent, China Steel retreated 1.06 percent and Taiwan Steel Union was unchanged.
After showing a significant move to the downside early Tuesday, stocks regained some ground but still closed in negative territory.
The Dow plunged 287.26 points or 1.15 percent to 24,700.21, while the NASDAQ shed 21.44 points or 0.28 percent and the S&P 500 fell 11.18 points or 0.40 percent to 2,762.57.
Trade war concerns weighed on Wall Street after President Donald Trump directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs at a rate of 10 percent.
Trump said the tariffs will go into effect if China refuses to change its unfair trade practices and moves forward with recently announced tariffs.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected jump in new residential construction in May, although there was a steeper than expected drop in building permits.
Crude oil futures tumbled Tuesday as OPEC geared up for a contentious meeting in Vienna, with Saudi Arabia expected to press for increased output. July WTI oil settled at $65.07/bbl, down 78 cents or 1.2 percent. Oil is down almost 10 percent over the past month.
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