Taiwan Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, improving almost 160 points or 1.1 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 15,960-point plateau, and it may see additional support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside with earnings optimism offset by interest rate jitters. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financials and technology shares.

For the day, the index gained 34.12 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 15,963.55 after trading between 15,894.77 and 15,961.06.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.12 percent, while First Financial lost 0.37 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.17 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.79 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved 0.78 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation strengthened 1.36 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.48 percent, Largan Precision soared 3.16 percent, MediaTek plummeted 5.21 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.43 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.22 percent, Formosa Plastics advanced 0.75 percent, Nan Ya Plastics slid 0.26 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.23 percent, Taiwan Cement climbed 1.07 percent, China Steel slumped 1.13 percent and Catcher Technology, Mega Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday, slipped into the red midday but bounced back into positive territory heading into the close.

The Dow climbed 100.71 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 33,987.18, while the NASDAQ added 34.26 points or 0.28 percent to close at 12,157.72 and the S&P 500 rose 13.68 points or 0.33 percent to end at 4,151.32.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates seemed to spook investors after Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said that he wants to see more evidence of inflation settling back to target before calling interest rate hikes finished.

But he added that he feels reassured by what he is seeing in the banking sector in terms of stability after a couple of solvency issues by individual banks last month.

In economic news, the National Association of Home Builders said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index in the U.S. increased to 45 in April, rising for a fourth month in a row.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand, while uncertainty about interest rate hikes and the dollar's rise against other currencies also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May sank $1.69 or 2.1 percent at $80.83 a barrel.