(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, surrendering almost 900 points or 4.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 19,410-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, especially among the technology tocks that were battered last week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and plastics companies. For the day, the index lost 115.90 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 19,411.22 after trading between 19,395.31 and 19,695.49. Among the actives, Cathay Financial accelerated 2.00 percent, while Mega Financial spiked 2.07 percent, CTBC Financial collected 1.13 percent, First Financial strengthened 1.69 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.85 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 1.88 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.07 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.41 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.47 percent, Catcher Technology soared 2.42 percent, MediaTek tanked 2.72 percent, Delta Electronics added 0.50 percent, Novatek Microelectronics surrendered 2.38 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 3.87 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed 4.18 percent, Asia Cement gained 1.67 percent, Taiwan Cement improved 1.87 percent, China Steel climbed 1.02 percent and Hon Hai Precision was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained well in the green throughout the trading day.
The Dow rallied 253.58 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 38,239.98, while the NASDAQ jumped 169.30 points or 1.11 percent to close at 15,451.31 and the S&P 500 gained 43.37 points or 0.87 percent to end at 5,010.60.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street came on easing fears of a wider Middle East conflict after Iran and Israel completed 'measured' counterattacks that were calibrated to avoid any casualties.
Investors scooped up bargains ahead of the release of a slew of U.S. economic data including reports on new home sales, durable goods orders and personal income and spending.
Earnings season also starts to pick up steam this week, with Tesla (TSLA), Boeing (BA), IBM (IBM), Caterpillar (CAT), Honeywell (HON), Alphabet (GOOGL), Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) among the companies due to report their quarterly results.
Oil prices drifted lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, while recent data showing a sharp jump in U.S. crude inventories also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May fell $0.29 or 0.34 percent at $82.85 a barrel. Closer to home, Taiwan will see March data for industrial production later today; in February, industrial production was down 1.1 percent on year.
