Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had surrendered almost 700 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 21,530-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside ahead of key data later in the week, although slumping oil prices may cap the upside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are likely to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 362.54 points or 1.71 percent to finish at 21,536.76 after trading between 21,372.08 and 21,612.54.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial increased 0.89 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.64 percent, CTBC Financial surged 2.82 percent, First Financial perked 0.18 percent, Fubon Financial added 0.55 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company accelerated 3.05 percent, Hon Hai Precision rallied 2.62 percent, Largan Precision advanced 0.88 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.83 percent, Delta Electronics soared 3.69 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.84 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.61 percent, Nan Ya Plastics tumbled 1.88 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.12 percent, China Steel rose 0.21 percent and United Microelectronics Corporation, Catcher Technology, E Sun Financial and Taiwan Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Monday but quickly turned lower and spent most of the day in the red before a late push saw them end mixed and little changed.

The Dow slumped 115.29 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 38,571.03, while the NASDAQ added 93.65 points or 0.56 percent to close at 16,828.67 and the S&P 500 rose 5.89 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,283.40.

Investors locked in recent gains in the first half of the day, consolidating positions ahead of key data later in the week. Late bargain hunting boosted the averages going into the close.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted at a slightly faster rate in May. Also, the U.S. Census Bureau said U.S. construction spending unexpectedly shrunk in April.

Oil prices fell to a four-month low on Monday after OPEC said it will begin phasing out voluntary production cuts over the next year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $2.77 or about 3.6 percent at $74.22 a barrel.