(RTTNews) – The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,250 points or 6.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 21,520-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on the outlook for trade. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology, plastic and cement sectors, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index tumbled 319.86 points or 1.46 percent to finish at 21,523.83 after trading between 21,496.69 and 21,786.33.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.16 percent, while Mega Financial advanced 0.86 percent, First Financial rallied 1.31 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slumped 1.40 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation eased 0.10 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 2.53 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.86 percent, Catcher Technology plummeted 4.49 percent, MediaTek plunged 4.03 percent, Delta Electronics stumbled 2.16 percent, Novatek Microelectronics retreated 1.34 percent, Formosa Plastics slipped 0.41 percent, Nan Ya Plastics fell 0.31 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.45 percent and CTBC Financial, Fubon Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is slightly positive as the major averages spent most of Monday in the red before a late pushed them up and barely over the unchanged line.
The Dow climbed 137.33 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 42,792.07, while the NASDAQ rose 4.36 points or 0.02 percent to close at 19,215.46 and the S&P 500 perked 5.22 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,963.60.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came in reaction to news that Moody’s has downgraded the U.S. debt rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seem to remain generally optimistic about the outlook for the markets.
On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators slumped by more than expected in the month of April.
Crude oil prices saw mild upside on Monday after Goldman Sachs raised its outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.17 of 0.27 percent to $62.66 per barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will release April figures for export orders and Q1 data for current account later today. In March, export orders jumped 12.5 percent on year, while the current account in the previous quarter was at $34.30 billion.
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