Taiwan Stock Market May End Losing Streak On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping more than 270 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,100-point plateau although it figures to halt its slide on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology stocks and oil companies. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the cement and plastics companies, while the financials and technology stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index dropped 102.46 points or 0.46 percent to finish at the daily low of 22,106.64 after peaking at 22,380.73.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.15 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.63 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial rose 0.17 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.33 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.21 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.22 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.48 percent, Delta Electronics skidded 1.01 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gained 0.36 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.02 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tumbled 1.37 percent, Asia Cement plunged 2.90 percent and First Financial, Fubon Financial, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and MediaTek were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 597.97 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 42,583.32, while the NASDAQ rallied 404.54 points or 2.27 percent to close at 18,188.59 and the S&P 500 gained 100.01 points or 1.76 percent to end at 5,767.57.

The support on Wall Street came on reports that President Donald Trump may hold back some of the reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.

Semiconductor and networking stocks had a very good outing. Shares from steel, banking, retail and airline sectors too closed mostly higher.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday after Trump announced a 25 percent secondary tariff on countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled higher by $0.83 or 1.22 percent at $69.11 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide February figures for industrial production later today; in January, production was up 5.07 percent on year.