Taiwan Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, rallying more than 685 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 24,135-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets also figure to track into the red.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the plastics and financials, while the technology shares were mixed. For the day, the index climbed 114.24 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 24,135.50 after trading between 23,887.25 and 24,249.05. Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.62 percent, CTBC Financial and Delta Electronics both were up 0.16 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.17 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.30 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.43 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.25 percent, Hon Hai Precision jumped 1.80 percent, Largan Precision increased 0.21 percent, Catcher Technology retreated 1.64 percent, MediaTek gained 0.37 percent, Novatek Microelectronics tumbled 1.82 percent, Formosa Plastics rallied 2.40 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed 8.29 percent and Asia Cement slumped 1.86 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Monday, rallied midday but then slumped in the afternoon and finished under water.

The Dow dropped 200.52 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,975.09, while the NASDAQ sank 64.62 points or 0.30 percent to close at 21,385.40 and the S&P 500 fell 16.00 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,373.45.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several closely watched economic reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in the month of July is likely to be in focus later today as the data could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Ahead of the release of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 86.5 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Crude oil edged higher on Monday as Russia shrugged off the U.S. deadline to end its war with Ukraine or face sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $0.17 or 0.27 percent at $64.05 per barrel.