Bargain Hunting May Boost Taiwan Shares

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday emphatically halted the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 600 points or 2.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 19,230-point plateau although it may find measure of support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests bargain hunting after a couple of sessions of extremely heavy losses, The European markets were sharply lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed but the Asian markets are due to tick higher.

The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board thanks to tariff-driven fears, especially among the financials, technology stocks and plastics companies.

For the day, the index plummeted 2,065.87 points or 9.70 percent to finish at 19,232.35 after trading between 19,212.02 and 20,153.57.

Among the actives, CTBC Financial, First Financial, Fubon Financial, E Sun Financial, Mega Financial, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, United Microelectronics Corporation, Hon Hai Precision, Largan Precision, Catcher Technology, MediaTek, Delta Electronics, Novatek Microelectronics, Formosa Plastics, Nan Ya Plastics and Asia Cement all plummeted by the 10 percent daily limit.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Monday but then hugged the line on both sides before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow tumbled 349.26 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 37,965.60, while the NASDAQ added 15.48 points or 0.10 percent to close at 15,603.26 and the S&P 500 fell 11.83 points or 0.23 percent to end at 5,062.25.

Stocks initially extended the sell-off seen over the two previous sessions amid ongoing concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump's new tariffs and retaliatory moves by U.S. trade partners.

Adding to worries about a global trade war, Trump threatened to impose an additional 50 percent tariff on Chinese goods unless the country withdraws its new 34 percent tariff on U.S. goods.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, leading some traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages hit their lowest intraday levels in over a year.

Crude oil prices tumbled again on Monday, extending the nosedive seen over the two previous sessions over tariff concerns. After plummeting nearly $10 a barrel last Thursday and Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dropped $1.29 or 2.1 percent to $60.70 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release March figures for consumer prices later today; in February, overall inflation was up 0.25 percent on month and 1.58 percent on year.