The Taiwan stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 140 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 10,900-point plateau although investors may cash in on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and the resulting spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday as the cement, technology and financial shares were all mostly in the green.
For the day, the index gained 70.58 points or 0.65 percent to finish at the daily high of 10,898.13 after moving as low as 10,822.69.
Among the actives, Asia Cement advanced 1.03 percent, while Taiwan Cement and Cathay Financial both collected 0.12 percent, Mega Financial lost 0.34 percent, CTBC Financial added 0.24 percent, Fubon Financial gained 0.67 percent, First Financial picked up 0.45 percent, E Sun Financial fell 0.19 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company climbed 1.14 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.73 percent, Largan Precision rose 0.25 percent, Catcher Technology perked 1.57 percent, MediaTek jumped 1.87 percent, Formosa Plastic accelerated 1.98 percent and Hon Hai Precision was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks saw moderate weakness on Monday, reflecting concerns about the impact of skyrocketing oil prices.
The Dow shed 142.70 points or 0.52 percent to 27,076.82, while the NASDAQ lost 23.17 points or 0.28 percent to 8,153.54 and the S&P 500 fell 9.43 points or 0.31 percent to 2,997.96.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid a spike by the price of crude oil, with Brent crude futures showing the biggest intraday jump on record after a coordinated drone attack on Saudi Arabia's oil industry - raising concerns about the impact higher energy prices could have on the already fragile global economy.
Crude oil prices surged Monday, hitting their biggest single-session intraday gain in 20 years after drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities resulted in a loss of about 5 percent of global crude output. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended up $8.05 or 14.7 percent at $62.90 a barrel, a four-month high.
U.S. President Donald Trump also tweeted the U.S. is "locked and loaded" to the respond to the attacks, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointing the finger at Iran. A potential military conflict between the U.S. and Iran would weigh on a global economy that is already being dragged down by the U.S.-China trade war.
Later this week, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision, with the central bank widely expected to cut interest rates by another 25 basis points. Trump has been pressuring the Fed for a larger rate cut, pointing to the stimulus announced by other central banks around the world.
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