Higher Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 625 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,280-point plateau and it may see additional support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, largely on positive momentum amid a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were modestly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit. The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index added 126.11 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 22,285.53 after trading between 22,170.94 and 22,307.46. Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.08 percent, while Mega Financial gained 0.89 percent, CTBC Financial soared 3.97 percent, First Financial perked 0.18 percent, Fubon Financial improved 1.21 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.71 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.41 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation rose 0.37 percent, Hon Hai Precision strengthened 1.69 percent, Largan Precision spiked 2.33 percent, Catcher Technology shed 0.42 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.78 percent, Delta Electronics advanced 0.90 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.55 percent, Nan Ya Plastics eased 0.12 percent, Asia Cement rose 0.22 percent and Formosa Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday and largely remained that way throughout the session, finishing with mild gains.

The Dow added 61.29 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 42,124.65, while the NASDAQ rose 25.95 points or 0.14 percent to close at 17,974.27 and the S&P 500 gained 16.02 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,718.57.

The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflects optimism about the outlook for the economy following the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut last week.

The Fed is expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months amid signs of slowing inflation even as the economy remains relatively strong.

Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of some key economic data later this week.

Crude oil prices were unable to hold early gains, slumping midday on demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell $0.47 or 0.66 percent to $70.53 per barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will release August numbers for export orders later today; in July, orders were up 4.8 percent on year.