Taiwan Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after snapping the six-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 825 points or 4.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 18,120-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing treasury yields and ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the technology, plastic and steel stocks were capped by weakness from the cement companies and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index advanced 124.60 points or 0.69 percent to finish at the daily high of 18,119.63 after trading as low as 17,995.11.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.22 percent, while First Financial eased 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.60 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.62 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 0.70 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.81 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.51 percent, MediaTek perked 0.21 percent, Delta Electronics spiked 1.91 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 1.24 percent, Nan Ya Plastics strengthened 1.30 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.37 percent, Taiwan Cement dropped 0.77 percent, China Steel improved 0.79 percent and Hon Hai Precision, Novatek Microelectronics, Mega Financial, CTBC Financial and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday and stayed that way for much of the session before a late surge sent them solidly into the green.

The Dow rallied 224.02 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 38,333.45, while the NASDAQ jumped 172.68 points or 1.12 percent to close at 15,628.04 and the S&P 500 gained 36.96 points or 0.76 percent to end at 4,927.93.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a notable pullback by treasury yields, which gave ground after moving higher last Friday. Yields fell to new lows and stocks rallied late in the session as the Treasury Department reduced its estimates for first quarter borrowing.

Earlier in the day, traders seemed reluctant to make significant ahead of several key events this week, including the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking for clues about the likelihood of rate cuts at upcoming meetings. Recent economic data has led many economists to believe the Fed is unlikely to cut rates in March, as traders had previously hoped.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday as concerns about the outlook for demand outweighed the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while a firmer dollar also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March slipped $1.23 or 1.6 percent to settle at $76.88 a barrel.