Tech Shares May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 360 points or 1.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 23,040-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with strong support expected from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the financial shares were offset by weakness from the plastic and cement sectors, and a mixed performance from the technology stocks. For the day, the index rose 19.42 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 23,039.90 after trading between 22,959.91 and 23,264.40. Among the actives, Cathay Financial advanced 0.86 percent, while Mega Financial rose 0.13 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.76 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.11 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company jumped 1.88 percent, Hon Hai Precision stumbled 2.41 percent, Largan Precision sank 0.79 percent, Catcher Technology declined 1.66 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.77 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.71 percent, Novatek Microelectronics tumbled 1.95 percent, Formosa Plastics surrendered 2.37 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skidded 1.19 percent, Asia Cement tanked 2.57 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and finished largely the same way.

The Dow shed 110.58 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 43,717.48, while the NASDAQ surged 247.17 points or 1.24 percent to close at a record 20,173.89 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.99 points or 0.38 percent to end at 6,074.08.

The general strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to continue cutting interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.1 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by another 25 basis points.

The surge by the NASDAQ came amid significant strength among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 2.1 percent. Networking stocks also saw considerable strength, extending a recent upward trend, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.0 percent to a new record closing high.

Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as recent data showing inflation remains somewhat sticky has led to some worries the Fed will lower rates slower than previously anticipated next year.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a sharp pullback by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel.