Taiwan Stock Market Overdue For Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in five straight sessions, tumbling more than 740 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 16,400-point plateau although it may get a lift from bargain hunting on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on bargain hunting after a rough couple of sessions. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and plastics companies. For the day, the index plunged 207.59 points or 1.25 percent to finish at 16,393.66 after trading between 16,307.28 and 16,585.41.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial stumbled 2.26 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.59 percent, CTBC Financial plummeted 2.41 percent, First Financial weakened 1.29 percent, Fubon Financial plunged 2.29 percent, E Sun Financial dove 1.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.92 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 0.77 percent, Hon Hai Precision rallied 1.38 percent, Largan Precision slumped 1.18 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.03 percent, Delta Electronics tumbled 1.82 percent, Novatek Microelectronics declined 1.14 percent, Formosa Plastics fell 1.19 percent, Nan Ya Plastics shed 1.29 percent, Asia Cement improved 1.13 percent, Taiwan Cement lost 1.47 percent, China Steel was down 1.63 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Monday; the NASDAQ and S&P 500 quickly bounced higher and stayed that way, while the Dow hugged the unchanged line throughout the session and finally finished on the green side.

The Dow added 26.23 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 35,307.63, while the NASDAQ jumped 143.48 points or 1.05 percent to close at 13,788.33 and the S&P 500 gained 25.67 points or 0.58 percent to end at 4,489.72.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting after the NASDAQand S&P 500 ended the previous session at their lowest closing levels in a month.

Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Oil prices dropped on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.68 or 0.8 percent at $82.51 a barrel.