The Taiwan stock market has closed lower now in three straight sessions, giving away almost 85 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange finished just above the 7,100-point plateau, and now analysts are forecasting a modest recovery at the opening of trade on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat after a successful French bond auction eased fears about the region's sovereign debt crisis after nine countries saw ratings downgrades. That resulted in a major sell-off in Asia on Monday, and now traders are expected to go bargain hunting - particularly among the automobile producers. The European markets finished firmly higher and the U.S. bourses were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the Asian markets are also tipped to move higher.
After opening firmly higher on post-election optimism, the TSE finished sharply lower on Monday following losses among the financial and technology sectors.
For the day, the index lost 77.92 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 7,103.62 after trading between 7,091.35 and 7,258.84.
Among the decliners, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co lost 2.84 percent.
Wall Street was closed on Monday, but the European markets moved smartly into the green. Investors sold shares at the opening bell, leaving an opportunity for bargain hunters to step in, with particular attention paid to automakers.
After a number of auto makers were upgraded at brokerages, the Stoxx Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts index was up 3 percent, led by Daimler and BMW in Germany. Goldman Sachs raised Renault to "Neutral" from "Sell." Fiat is adding over 3 percent in Milan as Goldman Sachs raised the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral."
Exane BNP raised Daimler to "Outperform" from "Neutral," while Goldman Sachs added the stock to "Conviction Buy" from "Buy." JPMorgan cut Basf to "Neutral" from "Overweight." The stock was up 0.83 percent. JPMorgan raised Lanxess to "Neutral" from "Underweight." The stock was up 1 percent.
Swiss-based cement giant Holcim Ltd. Monday said it will recognize extraordinary cash-neutral impairment charges of around 775 million Swiss francs (about $812 million) in the fourth quarter against its net income. Shares rose 1.6 percent.
Swiss luxury goods group Richemont AG on Monday reported a 24 percent growth in sales for the third quarter at actual and constant exchange rates, reflecting growing demand in Asia-Pacific. Shares rose 2.7 percent.
Insurer Hannover Rueckversicherung was flat as the company reportedly expects a major loss from the grounding of a cruise liner owned by Carnival Corp. on the coast of Giglio in Italy's Tuscan archipelago.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of Eurozone blue chip stocks was unofficially up 0.99 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was up 0.85 percent. The German DAX added 1.24 percent and Switzerland's SMI rose 0.50 percent. The French CAC 40 picked up 0.89, while the UK's FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.40 percent.
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