The Taiwan stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 60 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 20,735-point plateau and it's expected to open to the downside again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology and plastic stocks.
For the day, the index dipped 16.65 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 20,736.57 after trading between 20,713.87 and 20,825.04.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial slumped 1.31 percent, while Mega Financial lost 0.50 percent, CTBC Financial dropped 0.63 percent, First Financial fell 0.36 percent, Fubon Financial skidded 0.88 percent, E Sun Financial was down 0.55 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slid 0.24 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation gained 0.38 percent, Hon Hai Precision added 0.33 percent, Largan Precision jumped 1.51 percent, Catcher Technology dipped 0.24 percent, MediaTek stumbled 1.67 percent, Delta Electronics sank 0.78 percent, Novatek Microelectronics rallied 2.44 percent, Formosa Plastics retreated 1.69 percent, Nan Ya Plastics rose 0.35 percent, Asia Cement shed 0.59 percent, China Steel tumbled 1.78 percent and Taiwan Cement was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened lower on Friday and continued to trend lower throughout the day, ending neat session lows.
The Dow plummeted 475.84 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 37,983.24, while the NASDAQ tumbled 267.10 points or 1.62 percent to close at 16,175.09 and the S&P 500 sank 75.65 points or 1.46 percent to end at 5,123.41.
For the week, the Dow dropped 2.5 percent, the S&P lost 1.6 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.5 percent.
Inflation concerns continued to weigh on the markets as the Labor Department released a report showing import prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in March, which further dampened hopes for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in June.
Uninspired earnings and guidance also spooked investors as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Intel, Amazon and Goldman Sachs all ended firmly under water.
Oil prices moved higher on Friday amid concerns about the outlook for supply due to rising tensions in the Middle East between Iran and Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.64 at $85.66 a barrel.
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