Taiwan Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 40 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 17,820-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to weigh – although support from crude oil prices should limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The TSE finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index dipped 14.77 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 17,803.54 after trading between 17,790.64 and 17,857.73.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial skidded 1.13 percent, while Mega Financial declined 1.44 percent, CTBC Financial collected 0.62 percent, Fubon Financial fell 0.53 percent, First Financial eased 0.21 percent, E Sun Financial slid 0.54 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.49 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation lost 0.61 percent, Catcher Technology retreated 0.62 percent, MediaTek dropped 0.92 percent, Delta Electronics sank 0.77 percent, Formosa Plastic advanced 0.97 percent, Asia Cement declined 0.78 percent, Taiwan Cement was down 0.83 percent and Hon Hai Precision and Largan Precision were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is not encouraging as the major averages opened higher on Monday but tumbled late in the day, with only the Dow managing to barely hang on to positive territory.

The Dow rose 17.27 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 35,619.25, while the NASDAQ plunged 202.68 points or 1.26 percent to close at 15,854.76 and the S&P fell 15.02 points or 0.32 percent to end at 4,682.94.

The mixed close on Wall Street came after President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chair. The White House also revealed that Biden intends to nominate current Fed Governor Lael Brainard as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve System.

While the re-nomination of Powell will give the Fed stability as it grapples with the economic recovery and elevated inflation, Brainard was seen as the more dovish choice.

Crude oil futures settled higher Monday despite rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to a surge in coronavirus cases in several countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December rose $0.81 or 1.1 percent at $76.75 a barrel.

Closer to home, Taiwan will provide October figures for industrial production and retail sales later today; in September, output jumped 12.24 percent on year and sales rose an annual 1.26 percent.