The Taiwan stock market has been witnessing a steady upward trend, gaining over 300 points or an increase of 1.5 percent in the last two sessions. Currently, the Taiwan Stock Exchange is slightly above the 20,520-point mark and it's predicted to continue its upward trajectory on Tuesday, buoyed by renewed optimism over interest rates.
Global forecasts for the Asian markets also indicate a positive trend, following optimistic trends in both European and US markets. On Monday, Taiwan's Stock Exchange closed significantly higher, propelled by gains in the financial shares, technology stocks, and cement companies. For instance, Cathay Financial jumped 1.39 percent, CTBC Financial surged 3.88 percent, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company improved by 0.77 percent.
Stocks have enjoyed upward momentum over the past few sessions, largely due to fairly dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, and weaker-than-expected job growth in April. These developments have largely dispelled concerns of an imminent hike in interest rates by the Fed. Investors are now more confident about a possible rate cut in the coming months, with an 83.5 percent chance of a decrease by September, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
In addition to this, crude oil futures also recorded a slight increase on Monday, following Saudi Arabia's decision to increase its selling price for the European and Asian markets. Consumer price results for April are soon to be released by Taiwan. In March, inflation was up 0.26 percent on a monthly basis and 2.14 percent on an annual basis.
