Continued Consolidation Called For Taiwan Shares

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday halted the eight-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 3,650 points or 10.1 percent to a record closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 35,100-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with geopolitical concerns expected to war with bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index dropped 319.40 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 35.095.09 after trading between 34,605.36 and 35,345.72.

Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial sank 0.86 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.16 percent, First Financial and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company both skidded 1.00 percent, Fubon Financial slumped 1.27 percent, E Sun Financial shed 0.57 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation retreated 1.38 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 1.68 percent, Largan Precision tanked 2.58 percent, Catcher Technology fell 0.52 percent, MediaTek stumbled 2.31 percent, Delta Electronics dipped 0.35 percent, Novatek Microelectronics contracted 1.65 percent, Formosa Plastics plunged 1.74 percent, Nan Ya Plastics cratered 2.51 percent and Asia Cement was down 0.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Monday but gradually came back and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.

The Dow sank 73.14 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 48,904.78. while the NASDAQ gained 80.65 points or 0.36 percent to close at 22,748.86 and the S&P 500 rose 2.74 points or 0.04 percent to end at 6,881.62.

Early selling pressure was generated in reaction to the news that the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The subsequent turnaround came as traders used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in two months.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of February.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.