The Taiwan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sliding almost 120 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,240-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on falling crude oil prices and disappointing economic data. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index lost 69.93 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 10,241.75 after trading between 10,204.21 and 10,274.28.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial shed 0.45 percent, while Fubon Financial dropped 0.89 percent, CTBC Financial skidded 1.21 percent, Mega Financial lost 0.37 percent, First Financial fell 0.48 percent, Formosa Plastic tumbled 1.42 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company retreated 1.71 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plunged 2.11 percent, Hon Hai Precision sank 1.26 percent, Largan Precision eased 0.11 percent, AsusTek Computer skid 1.13 percent, Catcher Technology declined 1.35 percent, Asia Cement was down 0.39 percent and Taiwan Cement and Formosa Chemical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as stocks opened lower Friday, came off session lows as the day progressed but still ended slightly in the red.
The Dow shed 22.99 points or 009 percent to 25.450.24, while the NASDAQ lost 13.32 points or 0.18 percent to 7,408.14 and the S&P 500 fell 5.86 points or 0.21 percent to 2,743.07. For the week, the Dow and the S&P both slumped 2.2 percent, while the NASDAQ tumbled 2.5 percent.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came after the Labor Department said job growth nearly ground to a halt in February after soaring in January. The much weaker than expected job growth in February represented the worst month since September 2017
Concerns about the global economy also weighed on the markets after the European Central Bank downgraded its GDP forecasts and China reported weaker than expected trade data for February.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Friday as worries about demand growth resurfaced on data showing weak jobs growth in the U.S. and a sharp plunge in Chinese exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.59 or 1 percent at $56.07 a barrel.
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