Tech Shares May Weigh On Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday ended the five-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 840 points or 4.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 19,725-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of inflation data that may affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial share and technology stocks.

For the day, the index sank 59,24 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 19.726.08 after trading between 19,649.67 and 19,828.70.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial jumped 1.66 percent, while Mega Financial dipped 0.25 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.33 percent, First Financial eased 0.18 percent, E Sun Financial improved 0.79 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tanked 2.30 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.58 percent, Hon Hai Precision surged 4.29 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.80 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.76 percent, MediaTek lost 0.41 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.28 percent, Novatek Microelectronics tumbled 1.69 percent, Formosa Plastics gained 0.44 percent, Nan Ya Plastics climbed 1.08 percent, Taiwan Cement was down 0.16 percent, China Steel slumped 0.21 percent and Fubon Financial and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow snuck barely above the line late in the day to finish slightly higher.

The Dow added 46.97 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,769.66, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.84 points or 0.41 percent to close at 16,019.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.75 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,117.94.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of key inflation data later today, when the Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched report on consumer price inflation for February.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, with Federal Reserve officials saying they need "greater confidence" that inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting next week, the data could impact expectations regarding when the central bank will eventually lower rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China and on caution ahead key U.S. consumer price inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $77.93 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.