(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market on Friday halted the four-day winning streak in which it had soared almost 700 points or 3.7 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 18,310-point plateau and it's in line for more losses on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growing concerns over a possible Russian invasion on Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished slightly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financials, technology stocks and plastics.
For the day, the index lost 27.16 points or 0.15 percent to finish at the daily high of 18,310.94 after trading as low as 18,191.75.
Among the actives, Cathay Financial fell 0.30 percent, while Mega Financial perked 0.26 percent, Fubon Financial eased 0.13 percent, First Financial dipped 0.19 percent, E Sun Financial collected 0.33 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose 0.15 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation sank 0.72 percent, Hon Hai Precision shed 0.47 percent, Largan Precision climbed 1.44 percent, Catcher Technology lost 0.64 percent, MediaTek dropped 0.86 percent, Delta Electronics retreated 1.48 percent, Formosa Plastic lost 0.47 percent, Nan Ya Plastic perked 0.23 percent, Asia Cement added 0.44 percent and Taiwan Cement, CTBC Financial and Uni-President Enterprises were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off a slightly higher open on Friday, accelerated quickly lower and finished deep in the red.
The Dow sank 503.54 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 34,738.06, while the NASDAQ plunged 394.45 points or 2.78 percent to close at 13,791.15 and the S&P 500 tumbled 85.44 points or 1.90 percent to end at 4,418.64. For the week, the Dow shed 1 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 2.2 percent and the S&P fell 1.8 percent.
The substantial weakness that emerged on Wall Street came amid concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, which officials believe could happen any time now.
Earlier in the day, uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates led to choppy trading on speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates by a full percentage point by July, including a possible 50-basis point hike in March.
Oil prices rose sharply on Friday following a report from the International Energy Agency that said oil production from OPEC was significantly below target in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $3.22 or 3.6 percent at $93.10 a barrel, a fresh seven-year closing high.
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