Bargain Hunting May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Teachers' Day, the Taiwan stock market had finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 660 points or 2.5 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 25,580-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index plummeted 443.53 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 25,580.32 after trading between 25,469.04 and 25,998.28.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dropped 0.91 percent, while Mega Financial perked 0.12 percent, First Financial sank 0.84 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial shed 0.45 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.52 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 1.24 percent, Hon Hai Precision plunged 4.57 percent, Largan Precision declined 1.28 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.60 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.60 percent, Delta Electronics plummeted 4.07 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.36 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 1.29 percent, Nan Ya Plastics crashed 3.18 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.13 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but eventually managed to finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 68.78 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 46,316.07, while the NASDAQ gained 107.09 points or 0.48 percent to end at 22,591.15 and the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,661.21 percent.

The upswing on Wall Street reflected strength among technology stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) jumping 2.1 percent and video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) surging 4.5 percent.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown ahead of a deadline later today.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday, which could impact the outlook for interest rates. But the data could be delayed if the government shuts down.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday in the wake of oversupply concerns thanks to OPEC's plans for increasing output. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.50 or 3.80 percent at $63.22 per barrel.