Tech Shares Likely To Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 360 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,000-point plateau although it may find support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks and plastics companies, while the financial sector came in mixed.

For the day, the index tumbled 344.59 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 21,002.71 after trading between 20,940.98 and 21,256.10.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial tumbled 1.39 percent, CTBC Financial dipped 0.32 percent, First Financial dropped 1.29 percent, Fubon Financial rallied 2.76 percent, E Sun Financial jumped 1.68 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slumped 2.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.43 percent, Hon Hai Precision stumbled 2.24 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.94 percent, Catcher Technology improved 0.71 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.74 percent, Novatek Microelectronics plummeted 4.55 percent, Formosa Plastics plunged 4.32 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 4.01 percent, Asia Cement fell 0.36 percent and MediaTek was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent most of Monday in the red before a late rally nudged them over the unchanged line.

The Dow added 35.41 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 42,305.48, while the NASDAQ gained 128.85 points or 0.67 percent to close at 19,242.61 and the S&P 500 rose 24.25 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,935.94.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed trade concerns amid further signs of rising tensions between the U.S. and China.

China on Monday pushed back against President Donald Trump's claims that it had broken the Geneva trade agreement, accusing the U.S. of violating the deal with increased tech export restrictions and the revocation of Chinese student visas.

However, selling pressure waned following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly weakened in May. The report generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates amid signs of U.S. economic weakness due to Trump's trade war.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Monday, amid escalating geopolitical tensions and reports of more U.S. sanctions on Moscow. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.9 percent to $62.52 a barrel.