Tech Shares May Give Taiwan Stocks A Lift

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 400 points or 1.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,610-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity as traders figure to wait and see what transpires over trade and tariff talks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks, gains from the plastics and a mixed picture from the financial sector. For the day, the index sank 136.06 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 22,614.97 after trading between 22,525.66 and 22,735.23. Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.12 percent, while CTBC Financial tanked 2.95 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.16 percent, E Sun Financial collected 1.01 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.45 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation fell 0.23 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.62 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.75 percent, Catcher Technology rose 0.24 percent, MediaTek stumbled 2.46 percent, Novatek Microelectronics dipped 0.20 percent, Formosa Plastics surged 5.00 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rallied 2.63 percent, Asia Cement slumped 1.47 percent and Mega Financial and First Financial were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and gradually ticked up into positive territory, finishing with mild gains.

The Dow added 88.14 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 44,459.65, while the NASDAQ gained 54.80 points or 0.27 percent to close at 20,640.33 and the S&P 500 rose 8.81 points or 0.14 percent to end at 6,268.56.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed President Donald Trump's threats to impose 30 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico beginning Aug. 1. The EU responded that it will suspend the implementation of its trade countermeasures against the U.S. until early August to allow more time for a negotiated settlement.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of some key economic data in the coming days, including reports on consumer and producer prices, retail sales and industrial production.

Earnings season also picks up steam this week, with Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), Johnson & Jonson (JNJ) and Netflix (NFLX) among the big name companies due to report their quarterly results.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday on continuing concerns over OPEC's decision to increase output again next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dropped $1.24 or 1.85 percent to $65.79 per barrel.