Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 1,700 points or 7.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,870-point plateau and it may open higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat with a touch of downside ahead of earnings news and economic data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The TSE finished sharply higher on Tuesday following huge gains among the technology stocks and more modest upside among the financials.

For the day, the index surged 614.85 points or 2.76 percent to finish at 22.871.84 after trading between 22,514.75 and 22,871.84.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 2.50 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.71 percent, CTBC Financial added 0.99 percent, First Financial improved 1.03 percent, Fubon Financial strengthened 3.51 percent, E Sun Financial perked 0.34 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company soared 4.26 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation accelerated 2.19 percent, Hon Hai Precision surged 4.68 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.53 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 1.21 percent, MediaTek spiked 4.08 percent, Delta Electronics rallied 4.28 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 3.24 percent, Formosa Plastics sank 0.68 percent, Asia Cement gained 0.73 percent and Nan Ya Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up soft as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and spent almost the entire session in the green before a late slump dropped them barely into negative territory.

The Dow shed 57.35 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 40,358.09, while the NASDAQ dipped 10.22 points or 0.06 percent to close at 17.997.35 and the S&P 500 fell 8.70 points or 0.16 percent to end at 5,555.71.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the outlook for the markets following recent volatility.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key earnings and economic news in the coming days.

Later in the week, focus is likely to shift to a report on personal income and spending in June, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices fell to near seven-week lows on Tuesday as investors brace for a likely drop in demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down $1.44 or 1.83 percent at $76.96 a barrel, the lowest settlement since June 7.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide June data for unemployment later today; in the previous month, the jobless rate was 3.35 percent.