(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has moved lower in back-to-back trading days, sinking almost 750 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 32,060-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with any upside likely limited by inflation concerns and profit taking among oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial, technology, plastic and cement sectors.
For the day, the index stumbled 472.55 points or 1.45 percent to finish at 32,063.75 after trading between 32,004.96 and 32,555.52.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial perked 0.17 percent, while Mega Financial retreated 1.40 percent, First Financial slumped 1.20 percent, Fubon Financial tumbled 1.52 percent, E Sun Financial dropped 0.89 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company contracted 1.66 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation plummeted 8.77 percent, Hon Hai Precision and Nan Ya Plastics both declined 1.56 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.62 percent, Catcher Technology skidded 0.99 percent, MediaTek stumbled 1.12 percent, Delta Electronics plunged 2.79 percent, Novatek Microelectronics tanked 2.47 percent, Formosa Plastics plummeted 4.06 percent, Asia Cement sank 0.71 percent and CTBC Financial was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day.
The Dow dropped 179.09 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 48,892.47, while the NASDAQ sank 223.30 points or 0.94 percent to end at 23,461.82 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,939.03.
For the week, the S&P rose 0.3 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and the Dow fell 0.4 percent.
The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department reported that producer prices increased by much more than expected in December.
New tariff threats from President Donald Trump may also have contributed to the negative sentiment, as well as news that Trump announced his intent to nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Crude oil prices slid on Friday as the U.S. dollar index moved higher, while the possibility of diplomatic intervention in the U.S.-Iran conflict also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.22 or 0.34 percent at $65.20 per barrel.
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