The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 150 points or 1 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just beneath the 16,290-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns about the coronavirus and uncertainty about additional stimulus. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and cement companies, while the technology stocks were mixed with some volatility.
For the day, the index dropped 134.77 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 16,019.03 after trading between 15,973.02 and 16,138.04.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial dipped 0.25 percent, while Mega Financial fell 0.35 percent, CTBC Financial slid 0.26 percent, Fubon Financial rose 0.11 percent, First Financial shed 0.49 percent, E Sun Financial sank 0.82 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plunged 3.57 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation soared 4.63 percent, Hon Hai Precision spiked 3.85 percent, Largan Precision rallied 4.07 percent, Catcher Technology advanced 0.99 percent, MediaTek tumbled 1.82 percent, Formosa Plastic declined 0.88 percent, Asia Cement lost 0.73 percent and Taiwan Cement retreated 0.49 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as stocks opened sharply lower on Friday but rebounded to finish mixed and little changed.
The Dow shed 179.03 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 30,996.98, while the NASDAQ rose 12.15 points or 0.09 percent to end at 13,543.06 and the S&P 500 fell 11.60 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,841.47. For the week, the Dow added 0.6 percent, the NASDAQ jumped 4.2 percent and the S&P rose 1.9 percent.
The lower open on Wall Street came on profit taking following recent gains, as well as uncertainty about President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
The negative sentiment may have been partly offset by a report from the National Association of Realtors showing an unexpected rebound in existing home sales in December.
Crude oil prices slid on Friday after data showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended January 15. Rising coronavirus cases and lockdown measures also raised concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures sank $0.86 or 1.6 percent at $52.27 a barrel and 0.2 percent for the week.
Closer to home, Taiwan will see December figures for industrial production and retail sales later today. In November, industrial production was up 7.84 percent on year, while retail sales advanced an annual 2.48 percent.
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