(RTTNews) – The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 2,450 points or 5.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 46,550-point plateau although it’s expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the plastics companies, gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index shed 224.23 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 46,556.39 after trading between 46,431.38 and 47,395.30.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial slipped 0.21 percent, while Mega Financial strengthened 1.76 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.62 percent, First Financial jumped 2.01 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.41 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 2.23 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company gained 0.61 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tanked 2.64 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.62 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 2.25 percent, Catcher Technology plummeted 5.31 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.67 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 3.86 percent, Formosa Plastics stumbled 2.74 percent, Nan Ya Plastics cratered 6.09 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.27 percent and Novatek Microelectronics was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely spent most of the day in the green, ending near daily highs.
The Dow climbed 155.84 points or 0.29 percent to finish at a record 53,055.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 288.49 points or 1.12 percent to close at 26,121.16 and the S&P 500 gained 54.19 points or 0.72 percent to end at 7,537.43.
The upward move on Wall Street came amid strength among technology stocks, with computer hardware stocks turning in some of the best performances as the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index shot up by 3.4 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among networking and semiconductor stocks, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed slightly in June, although it was in line with expectations.
Crude oil prices ticked lower on Monday as oil tanker traffic across the Strait of Hormuz increased gradually, while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to increase output. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.15 or 0.22 percent at $68.54 per barrel.
Closer to home, Taiwan will provide June numbers for consumer prices later today; in May, overall inflation was up 0.19 percent on month and 2.20 percent on year.
