Tech Shares May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 870 points or 3.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 26,500-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support expected from the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and plastic stocks, while the technology companies were mixed. For the day, the index added 69.30 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 26,504.24 after trading between 26,482.33 and 26,764.13. Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial spiked 2.15 percent, First Financial improved 1.24 percent, Fubon Financial accelerated 3.72 percent, E Sun Financial vaulted 2.50 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sank 0.72 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 3.44 percent, Hon Hai Precision stumbled 2.22 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.90 percent, Catcher Technology dropped 0.96 percent, MediaTek added 0.44 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.22 percent, Novatek Microelectronics perked 0.13 percent, Formosa Plastics climbed 1.25 percent, Nan Ya Plastics surged 4.38 percent, Asia Cement rallied 2.54 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly turned higher and accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow advanced 202.86 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 26,448.27, while the NASDAQ surged 598.92 points or 2.69 percent to end at 22,872.01 and the S&P 500 climbed 102.13 points r 1.55 percent to close at 6,705.12.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels after concerns about valuations and the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of last week.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated amid signs of progress toward an agreement to end the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine.

Semiconductor stocks led the way higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 4.4 percent. Computer hardware and networking stocks are also seeing substantial strength, contributing to the surge by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday, supported by a positive economic outlook and more demand growth. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.73 or 1.26 percent at $58.79 per barrel. Closer to home, Taiwan will provide October figures for industrial production later today; in September, production was up 15.48 percent on year.