Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday halted the five-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,300 points or 8.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 14,350-point plateau and it's expected to see additional support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is inconsistent, with gains from the technology stocks likely to be offset by weakness from the energy producers. 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 modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the cement stocks and technology shares were capped by weakness from the plastics and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index jumped 132.14 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 14,349.20 after trading between 14,100.89 and 14,488.80.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial spiked 2.75 percent, while Mega Financial shed 0.56 percent, Fubon Financial surged 4.15 percent, First Financial rose 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.35 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 1.36 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation jumped 1.97 percent, Hon Hai Precision rallied 2.50 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1,15 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.84 percent, MediaTek added 0.65 percent, Delta Electronics gained 0.68 percent, Novatek Microelectronics retreated 1.35 percent, Formosa Plastics plummeted 12.56 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tanked 2.42 percent, Asia Cement advanced 0.91 percent, Taiwan Cement accelerated 1.88 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened with deep losses on Tuesday; they improved throughout the session, although the Dow remained stuck in the red.

The Dow shed 129.44 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 30,967.82, while the NASDAQ surged 194.39 points or 1.75 percent to end at 11,322.24 and the S&P 500 rose 6.06 points or 0.16 percent to end at 3,831.39.

Growth fears outweighed news that U.S. President Joe Biden may announce a rollback of some U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.

Investors also looked ahead to the release of the minutes of the central bank's latest policy meeting and the non-farm payrolls data, due out later in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department said factory orders increased more than expected in May.

Crude oil prices plunged sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a surge in Covid cases in China, while fears about Fed tightening, a strong greenback and a possible global slowdown also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August plummeted $8.93 or 8.2 percent at $99.50 a barrel.