Taiwan Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 200 points or 1.2 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 14,925-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns for an economic slowdown and on the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion. The TSE finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, technology stocks, cement companies and plastics.

For the day, the index plunged 352.25 points or 2.31 percent to finish at 14,926.19 after trading between 14,843.72 and 15,197.19.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 2.46 percent, while Mega Financial slid 0.98 percent, CTBC Financial declined 1.47 percent, Fubon Financial retreated 1.54 percent, First Financial slid 1.13 percent, E Sun Financial was down 1.07 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 2.64 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 3.27 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 2.26 percent, Largan Precision plunged 4.53 percent, Catcher Technology fell 1.09 percent, MediaTek tumbled 2.69 percent, Delta Electronics dropped 2.05 percent, Formosa Plastics surrendered 2.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics weakened 2.14 percent, Asia Cement dipped 0.82 percent and Taiwan Cement eased 0.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened sharply lower, staged a recovery midday but then faded into the close.

The Dow dropped 184.41 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 32,098.99, while the NASDAQ dropped 124.04 points or 1.02 percent to close at 12,017.67 and the S&P 500 lost 27.05 points or 0.67 percent end at 4,030.61.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continued to weigh on the markets following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech last week at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.

Powell's remarks were more hawkish than investors would have liked, signaling the Fed is likely to continue raising interest rates aggressively and maintain rates at a high level for an extended period. Trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to Friday's closely watched monthly employment report - which also may help to determine the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday amid indications that OPEC will decrease production if a deal with Iran to lift sanctions comes to pass. Crude oil for October delivery surged $3.95 or 4 percent to $97.01 a barrel.