Lower Open Predicted For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday ended the five-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,000 points or 4.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 22,700-point plateau and it's likely to open under water again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, thanks to concerns over tariffs and how they affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks, cement companies and plastics stocks, while the financials offered support.

For the day, the index plummeted 830.70 points or 3.53 percent to finish at 22,694.71 after trading between 22,502.20 and 22,796.71.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial climbed 1.16 percent, First Financial and E Sun Financial both collected 0.72 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 1.51 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 5.73 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation improved 0.75 percent, Hon Hai Precision plummeted 8.06 percent, Largan Precision rallied 2.91 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.75 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.39 percent, Delta Electronics crashed 8.80 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 1.91 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 4.97 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slumped 3.40 percent, Asia Cement dropped 0.97 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened under water again on Monday and largely stayed that way, although they climbed up off session lows.

The Dow dropped 122.75 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,421.91, while the NASDAQ stumbled 235.49 points or 1.20 percent to close at 19,391.96 and the S&P 500 sank 45.96 points or 0.76 percent to end at 5,994.57.

Stocks moved sharply lower in early trading amid concerns about a global trade war after President Donald Trump officially imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on imports from China. Trump also threatened possible tariffs against the United Kingdom and the European Union, marking a significant escalation.

Canada and Mexico ordered retaliatory tariffs on American goods, while China vowed countermeasures. The EU also warned of firm retaliation if targeted.

Investors fear that a trade war could hit the earnings of major companies and dent global growth. The tariffs could also lead to renewed inflation fears, leading the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates on hold for longer.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday after Trump's imposed tariffs on imports from Canada threatened to disrupt North America's tightly integrated oil market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $73.16 a barrel, up $0.63 or about 0.87 percent.