Taiwan Shares May Extend Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday ended the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 775 points or 3.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 23,190-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected by the year's end - especially among the technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and plastics and a mixed picture from the technology shares.

For the day, the index slipped 85.48 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 23,190.20 after trading between 23,159.70 and 23,331.67.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 0.14 percent, while Mega Financial eased 0.13 percent, First Financial dipped 0.18 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.55 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skidded 1.15 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.80 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.38 percent, Catcher Technology gained 0.78 percent, MediaTek sank 0.70 percent, Delta Electronics improved 0.70 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.40 percent, Formosa Plastics plunged 4.05 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surrendered 2.90 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.61 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Fubon Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 418.48 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,573.73, while the NASDAQ slumped 235.25 points or 1.19 percent to close at 19.486.79 and the S&P 500 sank 63.90 points or 1.07 percent to end at 5,906.94.

The weakness on Wall Street marked an extension of the sell-off seen last Friday, with traders taking profits going into the end of the year. The major averages still remain poised to post substantial gains for 2024, however, as the tech-heavy NASDAQ is up nearly 30 percent for the year.

Technology stocks climbed off their worst levels after helping lead the early slump but still ended the day notably lower. Significant weakness was visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

The sell-off on Wall Street may have been exaggerated by below average volume, as many traders remain away from their desks ahead of the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

Oil prices rose to a five-week high on Monday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. Expectations of increased demand from China contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February rose 0.6 percent to $70.99 a barrel.