Soft Start Anticipated For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday halted the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 490 points or 3.1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,830-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing concerns over the health of the financial sector. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the cement and technology stocks, while the plastics offered support and the financials were mixed. For the day, the index shed 84.39 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 15,830.31 after trading between 15,821.63 and 15,902.06. Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.12 percent, while Mega Financial was down 0.15 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.23 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.48 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dipped 0.19 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 1.90 percent, Largan Precision surrendered 1.74 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.26 percent, MediaTek declined 1.27 percent, Delta Electronics eased 0.17 percent, Novatek Microelectronics slumped 1.37 percent, Formosa Plastics added 0.44 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 0.65 percent, Asia Cement slid 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement plunged 2.53 percent and Fubon Financial, First Financial and E Sun Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green on Monday, although the tech-heavy NASDAQ quickly slipped into negative territory and never emerged.

The Dow jumped 194.55 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 32,432.08, while the NASDAQ sank 55.12 points or 0.47 percent to end at 11,768.84 and the S&P 500 rose 6.54 points or 0.16 percent to close at 3,977.53.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to build on last week's gains as fears of a global banking crisis once again eased following the latest developments in the sector.

Shares of First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) skyrocketed after the company reached an agreement with the FDIC to purchase all deposits and loans of failed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank.

U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) also showed a strong move back to the upside after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted the bank remains profitable.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about oil supply after Russian President Vladmir Putin said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in ally Belarus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May surged $3.55 or 5.1 percent at $72.81 a barrel.