Taiwan Stock Market Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 750 points or 5.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 15,500-point plateau although investors are likely to cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. Returning from the long Lunar New Year break, the TSE finished sharply higher on Monday with gains across the board, especially among the technology, cement and financial sectors. For the day, the index skyrocketed 560.89 points or 3.76 percent to finish at the daily high of 15,493.82 after trading between 15,291.53. Among the actives, Cathay Financial strengthened 1.67 percent, while Mega Financial jumped 1.87 percent, Fubon Financial rallied 2.01 percent, First Financial collected 0.56 percent, E Sun Financial accelerated 3.11 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skyrocketed 7.95 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surged 6.20 percent, Largan Precision spiked 4.34 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.71 percent, MediaTek soared 6.64 percent, Delta Electronics added 0.87 percent, Novatek Microelectronics gained 0.86 percent, Formosa Plastics rose 1.58 percent, Nan Ya Plastics gained 2.67 percent, Asia Cement gathered 0.70 percent, Taiwan Cement improved 2.64 percent and Hon Hai Precision and CTBC Financial were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel. Closer to home, Taiwan will release December figures for export orders later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 11.2 percent on year following the 23.4 percent contraction in November.