Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday snapped the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 300 points or 0.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 30,570-point plateau and it's got a green light again for Tuesday's trade. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil prices being the main catalyst to the upside. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the technology and plastics stocks were capped by weakness from the financial sector. For the day, the index advanced 278.33 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 30,567.29 after trading between 30,472.70 and 30,681.99. Among the actives, Mega Financial dropped 0.86 percent, while First Financial skidded 1.01 percent, Fubon Financial lost 0.52 percent, E Sun Financial slumped 1.07 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company gained 0.60 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.36 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 0.87 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.58 percent, Catcher Technology expanded 1.23 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.76 percent, Delta Electronics soared 3.94 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.79 percent, Formosa Plastics vaulted 1.22 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 4.52 percent, Asia Cement climbed 1.08 percent and Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday but managed to break into the green shortly thereafter.

The Dow added 86.13 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 49,590.20, while the NASDAQ gained 62.56 points or 0.26 percent to close at 23,733.90 and the S&P 500 rose 10.99 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,977.27.

The initial pullback on Wall Street reflected concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence after Fed Chair Jerome Powell revealed that the U.S. central bank has been served subpoenas by the Department of Justice that threaten criminal charges.

Powell termed this action "unprecedented" and ascribed it to President Donald Trump's ongoing threats and pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for interest rates. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the central bank is still likely to cut rates by at least another quarter point in the coming months.

Crude oil prices climbed on Monday as the increasing possibility of U.S. intervention to end the Iran turmoil sets off production disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.33 or 0.51 percent at $59.42 per barrel.