(RTTNews) – Taiwan’s stock market ended lower in four consecutive sessions, losing more than 280 points or 1.6% along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange is now just above the 16,965 point plateau and could take further damage Thursday.

Global forecasts for Asian markets are slightly soft ahead of key US inflation data later today. European markets were mixed and US stock markets were down and Asian markets were counting to divide the difference.

The TSE ended slightly lower on Wednesday following losses in financial stocks, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index lost 109.99 points or 0.64% to end at 16,966.22 after trading between 16,907.43 and 17,082.52.

Among assets, Cathay Financial slipped 0.91%, while Mega Financial fell 0.45%, CTBC Financial 0.44%, Fubon Financial fell 1.09%, First Financial fell 0 , 23%, E Sun Financial and Formosa Plastic both fell 0.96%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company lost 0.51%, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 2.87%, Hon Hai Precision fell 0, 90%, Largan Precision fell 1.83%, Catcher Technology lost 0.56%, MediaTek rose 0.10%, Asia Cement slipped 0.59%, and Taiwan Cement fell 0.19% .

Wall Street’s advance suggests slight consolidation as stocks opened mixed on Wednesday, bounced off the unchanged line, and ultimately ended slightly lower.

The Dow Jones lost 152.68 points or 0.44% to end at 34,447.14, while the NASDAQ lost 13.16 points or 0.09% to end at 13,911.75 and the S&P 500 lost 7.71 points or 0.18% to close at 4,219.55.

Cautious trading on Wall Street reflected concerns over key inflation data that could prompt the Federal Reserve to start talks about cutting its asset purchase program earlier than expected.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said wholesalers’ inventories rose 0.8% on the month to $ 698.0 billion in April after rising 1.2% in March.

Crude oil prices edged down Wednesday after data showed an increase in gasoline inventories in the United States last week. West Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended down $ 0.09 or 0.1% at $ 69.96 a barrel.

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