Taiwan Stock Market Due For Profit Taking On Tuesday

The Taiwan stock market has tracked higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 700 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 16,180-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly lower and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 5.97 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 16,180.89 after trading between 16,131.55 and 16,202.92.

Among the actives, Mega Financial collected 0.56 percent, while CTBC Financial added 0.61 percent, First Financial shed 0.36 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial lost 0.38 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dipped 0.19 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 2.20 percent, Largan Precision retreated 1.55 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.26 percent, MediaTek climbed 1.00 percent, Delta Electronics fell 0.33 percent, Novatek Microelectronics was up 0.25 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.53 percent, Nan Ya Plastics increased 0.12 percent, Taiwan Cement improved 1.06 percent, China Steel jumped 1.35 percent and Hon Hai Precision, Cathay Financial and Asia Cement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly headed south. They staged a modest recovery as the day progressed, although the Dow never managed to escape from negative territory.

The Dow dropped 140.05 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,286.58, while the NASDAQ climbed 62.88 points or 0.50 percent to close at 12,720.78 and the S&P 500 rose 0.65 points or 002 percent to end at 4,192.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they awaited updates on debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which so far have not found a resolution.

Treasury Secretary Yellen said on Sunday that the likelihood of the Treasury paying all U.S. bills by June 15 is getting smaller each day.

Concerns over the outlook for interest rates also weighed as Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that he backed two more increases.

Crude oil prices pared early losses and settled higher on Monday, amid hopes the U.S. lawmakers will reach a debt ceiling deal soon and help the nation avoid a default. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June settled at $71.99 a barrel, up $0.44 or 0.6 percent on the expiration day.

Market Analysis