Tech Shares Likely To Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the four-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 410 points or 2.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,570-point plateau and it's predicted to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and falling bond yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index added 53.52 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 17,572.66 after trading between 17,534.52 and 17,688.11.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.56 percent, while Mega Financial strengthened 1.28 percent, CTBC Financial improved 1.07 percent, First Financial advanced 0.93 percent, Fubon Financial jumped 1.42 percent, E Sun Financial gained 0.58 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 1.22 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.59 percent, Hon Hai Precision tanked 2.40 percent, Largan Precision lost 0.58 percent, Catcher Technology climbed 1.02 percent, MediaTek eased 0.11 percent, Delta Electronics added 0.49 percent, Novatek Microelectronics spiked 2.04 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 0.61 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.49 percent, Taiwan Cement fell 0.29 percent, China Steel sank 0.75 percent and Formosa Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but trended steadily upward as the day progressed and finished solidly in the green.

The Dow climbed 216.90 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 37,683.01, while the NASDAQ surged 319.70 points or 2.20 percent to end at 14,843.77 and the S&P 500 rallied 66.30 points or 1.41 percent to close at 4,763.54.

A drop in bond yields, and optimism about the outlook for stocks despite recent uncertainty about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts helped push stock prices up.

The Dow was weighed down by Boeing shares, which fell 8 percent after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to ground dozens of the company's 737 Max 9 aircraft after a door plug blew out in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as Saudi Arabia's decision to cut prices offset concerns about an escalation in the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February ended down $3.04 or 4.4 percent at $70.77 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will see December data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to fall 7.3 percent on month after tumbling 14.8 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 4.9 percent, up from 3.8 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at TWD8.70 billion, down from TWD9.80 billion a month earlier.