Taiwan Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for National Day, the Taiwan stock market had halted the three-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 600 points 4.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 13,700-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns over economic growth and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks, cement companies and plastics.

For the day, the index retreated 189.72 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 13,702.28 after trading between 13,684.21 and 13,847.52.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial sank 0.74 percent, while Mega Financial skidded 1.12 percent, CTBC Financial lost 0.73 percent, First Financial stumbled 1,16 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.59 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.88 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 2.31 percent, Largan Precision added 0.54 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.86 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.58 percent, Delta Electronics declined 1.26 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.16 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 0.89 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.37 percent, Taiwan Cement eased 0.15 percent and Hon Hai Precision and Fubon Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened flat on Monday but quickly turned lower, staying that way for the balance of the session.

The Dow dropped 93.91 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 29,202.88, while the NASDAQ tumbled 110.30 points or 1.04 percent to end at 10,542.10 and the S&P 500 slipped 27.27 points or 0.75 percent to close at 3,612.39.

The soft action on Wall Street may be partially attributed to light turnover, with many investors away from their desks for the Columbus Day holiday.

Soft sentiment still governed the markets after the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report last week failed to ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates by coming in stronger than economists had anticipated.

U.S. inflation data, minutes from the Fed's September meeting and reports on retail sales and consumer sentiment due this week will provide more insights into policymakers' view of where inflation stands and the outlook for the future path of interest rates.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday as soft data from China raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $1.51 or 1.6 percent at 91.13 a barrel.