(fxcue news) - The Taiwan stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 100 points or 0.4 percent in that span. The Taiwan Stock Exchanged now rests above the 22,240-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected following recent optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The TSE finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financials and plastics were capped by weakness among the technology companies. For the day, the index gained 82.07 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 22,240.12 after trading between 22,164.53 and 22,449.45. Among the actives, Cathay Financial accelerated 3.90 percent, while Mega Financial strengthened 1.41 percent, CTBC Financial perked 0.15 percent, Fubon Financial spiked 3.26 percent, E Sun Financial collected 1.82 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.11 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation dropped 0.90 percent, Hon Hai Precision climbed 1.11 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.33 percent, MediaTek sank 0.82 percent, Delta Electronics stumbled 1.74 percent, Novatek Microelectronics added 0.37 percent, Formosa Plastics improved 0.77 percent, Nan Ya Plastics jumped 1.86 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.17 percent and Catcher Technology was unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly headed south, eventually all ending under water. The Dow dipped 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 41,175.08, while the NASDAQ sank 152.03 points or 0.85 percent to close at 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 lost 17.77 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,616.84. The Dow found mild support from 3M Co. (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS). On the other hand, substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks weighed on the NASDAQ, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 2.5 percent. Within the semiconductor sector, AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumped by 2.3 percent ahead of the release of its fiscal second quarter results on Wednesday. On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in July. The price of crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel.