Taiwan Stock Market May Hand Back Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after ending the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 4,600 points or 13.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 36,950-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to recent developments in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the plastics companies were soft.

For the day, the index gained 154.50 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 36,958.80 after trading between 36,850.24 and 37,344.50.

Among the actives, Mega Financial shed 0.50 percent, while CTBC Financial collected 0.16 percent, First Financial added 0.35 percent, Fubon Financial dipped 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.45 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company stumbled 2.88 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation skyrocketed 12.59 percent, Hon Hai Precision perked 0.24 percent, Largan Precision plunged 3.90 percent, Catcher Technology soared 4.56 percent, MediaTek rose 0.26 percent, Delta Electronics rallied 2.98 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.73 percent, Formosa Plastics tumbled 3.49 percent, Nan Ya Plastics plummeted 5.30 percent, Asia Cement retreated 1.55 percent and Cathay Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly turned lower and ended in the red, although off of session lows.

The Dow dipped 4.87 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 49,442.56, while the NASDAQ shed 64.09 points or 0.26 percent to close at 24,404.39 and the S&P 500 sank 16.92 points or 0.24 percent to end at 7,109.14.

The modest weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the re-escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Iran following the latest developments in the Middle East.

Over the weekend, Iran once again closed the Strait of Hormuz and purportedly fired on tankers in the vital waterway, blaming the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports for the moves.

The latest threats combined with news that U.S. forces have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, contributed to a significant rebound by the price of crude oil.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship and Iran vowed to retaliate, renewing supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.54 or 6.61 percent at $89.39 per barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see March data for export orders later today; in February, export orders were up 23.8 percent on year.