Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 400 points or 1.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,410-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat with a touch of weakness ahead of the U.S. interest rate decision later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the plastics companies and mixed performances from the financial and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 48.60 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 23,412.98 after trading between 23,350.73 and 23,564.44.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.32 percent, First Financial shed 0.50 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial skidded 1.08 percent, Hon Hai Precision advanced 0.86 percent, Largan Precision dropped 0.85 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.23 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.10 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 0.97 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.21 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 2.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed 9.96 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.37 percent and Mega Financial, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and United Microelectronics Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and finished little changed and on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 64.36 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 44,837.56, while the NASDAQ gained 70.27 points or 0.33 percent to close at a record high 21,178.58 and the S&P perked 1.13 points or 0.02 percent to end at 6,389.77, also a record.

The modest strength on Wall Street followed news the U.S. and the European Union struck a last-minute trade agreement and reports suggest the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days.

However, buying interest was subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later this week. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the announcement could impact the outlook for rates.

The Labor Department's monthly jobs report is also likely to be in focus in the coming days along with earnings news from Magnificent Seven members Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META).

Crude oil price surged on Monday after the US announced a tariff framework agreement with the EU, cooling fears of a big tariff war. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery jumped $1.72 or 2.64 percent to $66.88 per barrel.