Taiwan Bourse May Find Traction On Tuesday

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 270 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 23,380-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and optimism for an interest rate cut. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the plastics companies, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index shed 55.44 points or 0.24 percent to finish at the daily high of 23,378.94 after moving as low as 23,151.65.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.24 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.70 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial added 0.67 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.49 percent, E Sun Financial climbed 1.09 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company sank 0.44 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.37 percent, Hon Hai Precision dropped 0.83 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.71 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 0.94 percent, MediaTek retreated 1.48 percent, Delta Electronics increased 0.85 percent, Novatek Microelectronics shed 0.42 percent, Formosa Plastics plummeted 7.00 percent, Nan Ya Plastics plunged 5.40 percent and Asia Cement improved 0.87 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened solidly higher on Monday and closed in similar fashion, cutting into Friday’s steep losses.

The Dow jumped 585.06 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 44,173.64, while the NASDAQ rallied 403.45 points or 1.95 percent to end at 21,053.58 and the S&P 500 gained 91.93 points or 1.47 percent to close at 6,329.94.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent sell-off, which saw the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 pull back well off their record highs.

The steep drop last Friday came amid concerns about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s new tariffs, weaker than expected jobs data and a slump by shares of Amazon (AMZN).

Optimism the weak jobs data will lead the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next month also contributed to the buying interest. According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, the chances of a quarter point rate cut in September have jumped to 91.9 percent from 63.1 percent a week ago.

Crude oil continued to decline on Monday thanks to oversupply concerns and fears of a tariff-induced slowdown by the global economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.06 or 1.57 percent at $66.27 per barrel.