Little Movement Seen For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday halted the four-day winning streak in which it improved almost 770 points or 1.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,340-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity as investors wait and see what happens with tariff deadlines. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology and plastics companies.

For the day, the index sank 42.57 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 23,340.56 after trading between 23,243.79 and 23,403.83.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial and United Microelectronics Corporation both perked 0.12 percent, CTBC Financial eased 0.16 percent, First Financial fell 0.34 percent, Fubon Financial sank 0.72 percent, E Sun Financial tanked 2.29 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.43 percent, Hon Hai Precision slipped 0.30 percent, Largan Precision improved 0.82 percent, Catcher Technology strengthened 1.41 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.06 percent, Delta Electronics rallied 1.18 percent, Novatek Microelectronics lost 0.60 percent, Formosa Plastics rose 0.26 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 1.36 percent and Asia Cement advanced 1.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened solidly higher on Monday but ebbed throughout the session before ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow sank 19.12 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 44,323.07, while the NASDAQ gained 78.52 points or 0.38 percent to close at a fresh record 20,974.17 and the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,305.60 - also a record.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about potential trade deals, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying he is confident the U.S. will reach an agreement with the European Union.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of earnings news from several big-name companies this week, including Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Tesla (TSLA) and Intel (INTC).

On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Conference Board showed its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by slightly more than expected in the month of June.

Crude oil prices slipped on Monday as investors seem concerned that heavy tariffs could block international trade and reduce demand for oil and energy. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dipped $0.11 to $69.17 per barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release June numbers for unemployment and export orders later today; in May, the jobless rate was 3.34 percent and export orders jumped an annual 18.5 percent.