FX.co ★ Taiwan Stock Market May Challenge 20,000-Point Mark

On Monday, the Taiwan stock market sustained its upward trend just one session after ending its three-day winning streak. During this period, the market had gained over 210 points, equating to a 1.1 percent increase. The Taiwan Stock Exchange is currently hovering just below the 19,880-point mark and shows promising signs of opening stronger on Tuesday.

Globally, the outlook for Asian markets, including Taiwan, seems optimistic, with hope for positive performances from technology and oil stocks. Even though the European markets were down, U.S. stock markets fared well, a trend that is expected to bode well for Asian markets as well.

Detailed market analysis from Monday shows that the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) finished significantly higher thanks to gains from technology stocks. Financial stocks, however, saw some weakening, and the plastics sector demonstrated a mixed performance.

The day’s trading saw the index rise 197.35 points or 1.00 percent, ending at 19,879.85 after fluctuating between 19,706.11 and 19,879.86.

Among the noteworthy stocks, Cathay Financial experienced a slight drop of 0.21 percent, while Mega Financial went down by 0.73 percent, CTBC Financial by 0.79 percent, First Financial by 0.54 percent, Fubon Financial by 0.14 percent, while E Sun Financial advanced by 1.15 percent.

Furthermore, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company saw a significant 1.93 percent rise. Equally noticeable were the changes in Hon Hai Precision, which skyrocketed by 3.03 percent, MediaTek, which surged 3.08 percent, and Novatek Microelectronics, which experienced a staggering 6.14 percent surge. In contrast, Formosa Plastics and China Steel suffered slight drops of 0.29 percent and 0.43 percent respectively.

The positive influence from Wall Street is evident. The major averages kicked off the trading day with strong gains on Monday and maintained the momentum. The Dow rose 75.66 points (or 0.20 percent), the NASDAQ jumped 130.27 points (or 0.82 percent), and the S&P 500 gained 32.33 points (or 0.63 percent).

Tech stocks primarily led the Wall Street rally - key contributors included Alphabet and Nvidia. Traders are now looking forward to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. While interest rates aren't expected to change, June rate cut optimism has dwindled due to recent inflation trends.

Finally, U.S. homebuilder confidence saw a surprising boost in March according to the National Association of Home Builders. Oil prices surged due to supply concerns linked to geopolitical risks. The latter involves Ukraine's continued drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, as well as lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Consequently, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil future prices for April increased by $1.68, or 2.1 percent, standing at $82.72 a barrel.