The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sliding more than 175 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 10,385-point plateau and it's predicted to open under pressure again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on sliding crude oil prices and concerns over global trade. The European and U.S. markets ended lower on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion on Monday.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and cement companies.
For the day, the index lost 90.50 points or 0.86 percent to finish at the daily low of 10,384.11 after peaking at 10,564.97.
Among the actives, Mega Financial jumped 1.52 percent, while Fubon Financial slid 0.24 percent, First Financial collected 0.23 percent, Taishin Financial rose 0.36 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company tumbled 2.23 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation added 0.39 percent, AsusTek Computer rose 0.23 percent, Hon Hai Precision skidded 1.58 percent, Largan Precision cratered 9.41 percent, Catcher Technology sank 2.10 percent, MediaTek advanced 1.04 percent, Asia Cement spiked 2.58 percent, Taiwan Cement gained 0.60 percent and Formosa Plastic, Formosa Chemical, Cathay Financial and CTBC Financial all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests volatile negativity as stocks saw wild swings on Friday, finally ending firmly in the red.
The Dow shed 98.68 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 25,764.00, while the NASDAQ lost 81.76 points or 1.04 percent to 7,816.28 and the S&P 500 fell 16.79 points or 0.58 percent to 2,859.53. For the week, the Dow shed 0.7 percent, the NASDAQ lost 1.3 percent and the S&P fell 0.8 percent.
Reflecting recent market sensitivity to trade-related news, Wall Street's late-day pullback followed reports that negotiations between the U.S. and China have stalled.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a substantial jump in consumer sentiment in May, although the data was recorded mostly before trade negotiations with China collapsed.
Crude oil futures settled modestly lower on Friday amid prospects of supply disruptions due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $0.11 or 0.17 percent at $62.76 a barrel.
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