Higher Open Expected For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 400 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 22,950-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the global outlook, although weak oil prices limited the upside. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Monday following gins from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index added 44.05 points or 0.19 percent to finish at the daily low of 22,948.37 after trading as high as 23,172.43.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.75 percent, while Mega Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation both climbed 1.01 percent, First Financial improved 0.72 percent, Fubon Financial strengthened 1.34 percent, E Sun Financial rallied 1.28 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dropped 0.96 percent, Hon Hai Precision soared 3.69 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.94 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.50 percent, MediaTek stumbled 2.29 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.13 percent, Novatek Microelectronics accelerated 2.29 percent, Nan Ya Plastics advanced 0.87 percent and Asia Cement, CTBC Financial and Formosa Plastics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow rallied 440.0.6 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 44,736.57, while the NASDAQ added 51.19 points or 0.48 percent to close at 20,220.36 and the S&P 500 rose 18.03 points or 0.30 percent to end at 5,987.37.

Stocks added to the strong gains posted last week amid a positive reaction to news President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.

Bessent is seen as supportive of the equity markets and an advocate for deficit reduction. He has also called for Trump's planned tariff increases to be implemented gradually, which could reduce the impact on inflation.

However, buying interest waned as the day progressed, as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of several key economic reports in the coming days.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, weighed down by reports that Israel and Hezbollah are likely to reach a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.30 or 3.2 percent at $68.94 a barrel.