Bargain Hunting May Boost Taiwan Stock Market

The Taiwan stock market has moved lower on back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 630 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 22,220-point plateau although it’s poised to halt its slide on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky thanks to a less clear outlook for interest rates. 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 sharply lower on Monday, with profit taking across the board – especially among the technology stocks, financials and plastics.

For the day, the index tumbled 598.25 points or 2.62 percent to finish at the daily low of 22,224.54 after peaking at 22,691.23.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial declined 1.48 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.38 percent, CTBC Financial shed 0.58 percent, First Financial slodded 1.44 percent, Fubon Financial perked 0.17 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.88 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 4.30 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation surrendered 2.18 percent, Hon Hai Precision retreated 1.83 percent, Largan Precision stumbled 2.68 percent, Catcher Technology added 0.64 percent, MediaTek plummeted 6.75 percent, Delta Electronics tanked 4.88 percent, Novatek Microelectronics jumped 1.57 percent, Nan Ya Plastics dropped 0.86 percent, Asia Cement rallied 2.36 percent and Formosa Plastics was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened flat on Monday and hugged the line throughout most of the session before a late rally nudged them into the green at the close.

The Dow added 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at a record 42,330.15, while the NASDAQ gained 69.58 points or 0.38 percent to close at 18,189.17 and the S&P 500 rose 24.31 points or 0.42 percent to end at a record 5,762.48.

Stocks initially came under pressure in reaction to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested the central bank will continue to lower interest rates but stressed the downward path for rates is not on a preset course.

Powell’s remarks partly offset optimism the Fed will continue to lower interest rates aggressively in the coming months.

The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for November 6-7, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 65.3 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by 25 basis points and a 34.7 percent chance of another 50-basis point rate cut.

Oil futures settled flat on Monday as uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand from China weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.01 at $68.17 a barrel.