Lower Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday snapped the five-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 1,200 points or 4.3 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 27,340-point plateau and it may open under water again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected after recent strength. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index slumped 283.95 points or 1.03 percent to finish at the daily low of 27,342.53 after peaking at 27,697.06.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial advanced 0.93 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.50 percent, First Financial sank 0.72 percent, Fubon Financial dropped 0.86 percent, E Sun Financial added 0.66 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company stumbled 2.08 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rallied 1.53 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.55 percent, Largan Precision skidded 1.13 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.25 percent, MediaTek soared 3.58 percent, Delta Electronics surged 4.40 percent, Novatek Microelectronics improved 0.77 percent, Formosa Plastics gained 0.60 percent, Nan Ya Plastics spiked 3.56 percent, Asia Cement increased 0.52 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 47,289.33, while the NASDAQ sank 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to close at 23,275.92 and the S&P 500 lost 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,812.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen in November.

The major averages had closed higher for five consecutive sessions last week, clawing their way back toward record highs.

Stocks had recently benefited from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. However, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. dollar came under pressure amid rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.75 or 1.28 percent at $59.30 per barrel.