Taiwan Bourse May Run Out Of Steam

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in four straight trading days, advancing almost 190 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,225-point plateau although investors may cash in on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation thanks to soft economic data and falling crude oil prices. The European and U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the technology stocks and a mixed bag from the financial shares.

For the day, the index jumped 68.69 points or 0.68 percent to finish at the daily high of 10,226.84 after moving as low as 10,164.89 on turnover of 92.29 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial collected 0.32 percent, while Fubon Financial slid 0.86 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company spiked 1.44 percent, Catcher Technology soared 3.35 percent, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering advanced 1.81 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.48 percent, MediaTek perked 3.18 percent and Largan Precision eased 0.10 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as stocks showed a lack of direction on Monday before ending slightly lower.

The Dow slipped 22.25 points or 0.1 percent to 21,184.04, while the NASDAQ dipped 10.11 points or 0.2 percent to 6,295.68 and the S&P fell 2.97 points or 0.1 percent to 2,436.10.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management noted a mild slowdown in the pace of growth in the service sector in May. Also, the Commerce Department saw a modest drop in factory orders in April, and the Labor Department said labor productivity was unchanged in Q1.

Crude oil futures continued to fall Monday, sliding near $47 a barrel amid concerns that a rift between Middle East oil producers will threaten OPEC's supply quota plan. July WTI oil fell 26 cents or 0.6 percent to $47.40/bbl.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide May numbers for consumer and wholesale prices later today. CPI is expected to add 0.60 percent on year after rising 0.12 percent in April. WPI is called at 0.19 percent, slowing from 1.12 percent in the previous month.