Taiwan Stock Market Likely To Remain Rangebound

(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 630 points or 2.9 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 22,700-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed consolidation on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, ahead of key economic and earnings data later this week. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were solidly lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Monday as the financial shares and technology stocks ended mostly in the green.

For the day, the index rallied 399.85 points or 1.79 percent to finish at 22,702.56 after trading between 22,479.24 and 22,719.07. Among the actives, Cathay Financial spiked 3.03 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.90 percent, CTBC Financial jumped 1.90 percent, Fubon Financial climbed 1.11 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rallied 2.87 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.57 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.80 percent, Largan Precision slumped 1.17 percent, Catcher Technology improved 1.28 percent, MediaTek gained 1.63 percent, Delta Electronics accelerated 1.78 percent, Novatek Microelectronics tanked 2.67 percent, Formosa Plastics declined 1.51 percent, Nan Ya Plastics stumbled 1.41 percent and Asia Cement lost 0.63 percent. The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and only moved lower as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 398.51 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 41,954.24, while the NASDAQ plunged 213.95 points or 1.18 percent to close at 17,923.90 and the S&P 500 sank 55.13 points or 0.96 percent to end at 5,695.94.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders reassessed their expectations for the outlook on interest rates. After Friday's upbeat jobs data, traders now expect only a quarter-point cut in interest rates at the Federal Reserve's next policy announcement on Nov. 7.

The mood is cautious as investors await readings on consumer price and producer price inflation later in the week, as well as earnings announcements from several top banks.

On the geopolitical front, Israeli defense forces intensified air strikes targeting Gaza and the Lebanese capital of Beirut simultaneously on the first anniversary of Hamas' cross-border attack in Israel, which triggered the Middle East war.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid the rising possibility of disruptions in supply in the Persian Gulf due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November jumped $2.76 or 3.71 percent at $77.14 a barrel, the highest close in nearly eight weeks. Closer to home, Taiwan will release September figures for imports, exports, trade balance and consumer prices later today. In August, imports were up 11/8 percent on year and exports rose an annual 16.8 percent for a trade surplus of $11.49 billion. Overall inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 2.36 percent on year.