Rebound Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 350 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 23,200-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive following a sharp drop in the price of oil. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday as the financial shares and technology stocks were mostly in the red, while the plastics companies offered support.

For the day, the index sank 150.38 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 23,198.07 after trading between 23,164.42 and 23,547.12.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.43 percent, while Mega Financial advanced 0.90 percent, CTBC Financial shed 0.55 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.33 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.54 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.41 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.10 percent, Hon Hai Precision slid 0.46 percent, Largan Precision stumbled 1.69 percent, Catcher Technology was down 0.42 percent, MediaTek rallied 1.52 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.75 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.19 percent, Formosa Plastics soared 3.63 percent, Nan Ya Plastics spiked 2.30 percent and Asia Cement and First Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Monday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.

The Dow rallied 273.17 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,387.57, while the NASDAQ gained 48.58 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 18,567.19 and the S&P 500 added 15.40 points or 0.27 percent to end at 5,823.52.

The strength on Wall Street came amid a steep drop by the price of oil. Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as concerns about supply disruptions faded after Israel avoided hitting Iranian oil facilities over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December plunged $4.40 or 6.1 percent at $67.38 a barrel.

Meanwhile, traders were also looking ahead to the release of key U.S. economic data later in the week. The monthly jobs report as well as a report on personal income and spending that includes the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation readings are likely to be in the spotlight.

The data could impact the outlook for the economy as well as expectations regarding how quickly the Fed will lower interest rates.