Taiwan Shares Expected To Reverse Monday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 55 points or 0.5 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,735-point plateau although it figures to turn lower again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation, with profit taking likely after recent gains - although mild support from crude oil prices will keep the damage minimal. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to open in the red.

The TSE finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and technology stocks were limited by weakness from the steel and plastics companies.

For the day, the index picked up 6.33 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 10,735.21 after trading between 10,731.90 and 10,792.27 on turnover of 104.28 billion Taiwan dollars.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial climbed 1.23 percent, while Mega Financial collected 0.42 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.11 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company added 0.63 percent, AU Optronics tumbled 1.98 percent, MediaTek spiked 2.40 percent, Catcher Technology jumped 1.32 percent, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering advanced 2.72 percent, Taiwan Steel plummeted 2.15 percent, China Steel was up 0.20 percent and Formosa Plastics skidded 1.19 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened slightly higher on Monday but gave it all back to end in the red.

The Dow dipped 54.67 points or 0.23 percent to 23,273.96, while the NASDAQ fell 42.23 points or 0.64 percent to 6,586.83 and the S&P slid 10.23 points or 0.40 percent to 2,564.98.

The choppy trading came as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves amid a quiet day on the U.S. economic front. A heavy schedule of corporate earnings also looms in the coming days.

Crude oil futures inched higher Monday despite moves by Iraq to mitigate the supply disruptions brought on by the Kurdish conflict. WTI crude for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 6 cents to close at $51.90 a barrel.