(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Monday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 500 points or 1.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 32,400-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic amidst an extended rebound among technology companies and ahead of key U.S. data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The TSE finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the technology and plastics sectors, while the financial sector came in mixed. For the day, the index jumped 621.70 points or 1.96 percent to finish at 32,404.62 after trading between 31,956.21 and 32,666.05. Among the actives, CTBC Financial shed 0.47 percent, while Fubon Financial collected 1.52 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 0.88 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Formosa Plastics both jumped 1.97 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation improved 0.81 percent, Hon Hai Precision vaulted 1.63 percent, Largan Precision tumbled 1.72 percent, Catcher Technology tanked 2.25 percent, MediaTek surged 7.02 percent, Delta Electronics strengthened 1.72 percent, Novatek Microelectronics expanded 1.92 percent, Nan Ya Plastics soared 6.12 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.42 percent and Cathay Financial and Mega Financial were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday but eventually moved up into the green to finish with modest gains.
The Dow rose 18.98 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 50,134.65, while the NASDAQ jumped 217.80 points or 0.95 percent to close at 23,249.02 and the S&P 500 added 34.13 points or 0.49 percent to end at 6,966.43.
The strength that has emerged on Wall Street reflected an extended rebound by tech stocks, which helped the strong upward move seen last Friday.
Software giant Oracle (ORCL) has helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 9.3 percent after D.A. Davidson upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.
The choppy trading came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days. The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, which was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week, is likely to be in the spotlight.
Gold prices moved sharply higher on Monday, extending last week's gains. Gold for February delivery surged $99.70 or 2 percent to $5,050.90 an ounce. The continued advance by the price of gold came amid weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index sliding 0.7 percent.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
