Ahead of Monday's holiday for Peace Day, the Taiwan stock market had moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 100 points or 0.6 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 15,950-point plateau although it figures to rebound on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on falling treasury yields and vaccine optimism. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The TSE finished with huge losses on Friday with damage across the board - especially among the financials and technology stocks.
For the day, the index plummeted 498.40 points or 3.03 percent to finish at the daily low of 15,953.80 after peaking at 16,190.04.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial sank 3.78 percent, while Mega Financial shed 1.52 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 4.31 percent, Fubon Financial lost 3.48 percent, First Financial surrendered 2.34 percent, E Sun Financial slid 1.94 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 4.57 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 2.69 percent, Hon Hai Precision tumbled 3.86 percent, Largan Precision retreated 3.37 percent, Catcher Technology declined 2.78 percent, MediaTek plummeted 5.08 percent, Formosa Plastic sank 2.50 percent, Asia Cement was down 1.50 percent and Taiwan Cement dropped 2.10 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened firmly in the green on Monday and continued to accelerate as the day progressed.
The Dow spiked 603.14 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 31,535.51, while the NASDAQ surged 396.48 points or 3.01 percent to end at 13,588.83 and the S&P 500 jumped 90.67 points or 2.38 percent to close at 3,901.82.
The rally on Wall Street came amid a continued pullback by treasury yields, which has eased recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note hit its highest closing level in a year last week.
Positive sentiment was also generated by news Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) single-shot Covid-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA, paving the way for its distribution.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated in February. Also, the Commerce Department said U.S. construction spending increased more than expected in January.
Crude oil prices drifted lower Monday, weighed down by a likely move by major oil producers to increase crude output from April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.86 or 1.4 percent at $60.64 a barrel.
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