Taiwan Shares May Reverse Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,450 points or 5.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 25,350-point plateau although it's expected to rebound on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improving outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology and plastics companies.

For the day, the index slumped 117.48 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 25,357.16 after trading between 25,284.17 and 25,519.94.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.24 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial skidded 1.00 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 0.89 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.40 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation eased 0.12 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.69 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.09 percent, Catcher Technology was down 0.27 percent, Delta Electronics slipped 0.12 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 1.08 percent, Formosa Plastics was up 0.13 percent, Nan Ya Plastics lost 0.40 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.68 percent and Fubon Financial and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow rose 49.23 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 45,883.45, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.65 points or 0.94 percent to end at a record 22,348.75 and the S&P 500 gained 30.99 points or 0.47 percent to close at 6,615.28, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street came following positive comments from President Donald Trump about trade talks between top U.S. and Chinese officials in Europe.

Traders also continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter-point.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts.

Crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday amid brewing Middle East tensions and the heightening Russia-Ukraine war even as softening demand concerns surface. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.58 or 0.93 percent at $63.27 per barrel.