Lower Open Called For Taiwan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Taiwan stock market has tracked lower in consecutive trading days, sinking more than 710 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now sits just above the 33,400-point plateau and it's likely to open in the red again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow to the downside.

The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and plastics companies.

For the day, the index declined 181.58 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 33,400.32 after trading between 33,013.46 and 33,639.18.

Among the actives, Mega Financial dipped 0.13 percent, while First Financial perked 0.17 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company skidded 1.06 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation tumbled 1.82 percent, Largan Precision shed 0.42 percent, Catcher Technology sank 0.80 percent, MediaTek plunged 3.64 percent, Delta Electronics climbed 1.09 percent, Novatek Microelectronics fell 0.39 percent, Formosa Plastics slumped 1.62 percent, Nan Ya Plastics skyrocketed 7.74 percent, Asia Cement was up 0.14 percent and Cathay Financial, CTBC Financial, Fubon Financial, E Sun Financial and Hon Hai Precision were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher on Friday but turned lower as the day progressed, slipping into the red and finishing at session lows.

The Dow dropped 119.43 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 46,558.47, while the NASDAQ tumbled 206.64 points or 0.93 percent to close at 22,105.36 and the S&P 500 sank 40.43 points or 0.61 percent to end at 6,632.19. For the week, the Dow plunged 2.0 percent, the S&P dropped 1.6 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.3 percent.

The pullback seen over the course of the session came as trading continued to be largely driven by reaction to crude oil prices.

Stocks initially benefited from a pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for April delivery plunging by as much as 3.9 percent after skyrocketing over the course of the two previous sessions.

Crude oil prices again showed a substantial move to the upside on Friday as uncertainty prevails about the timeline for ending the war. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $3.35 or 3.50 percent at $98.08 per barrel.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth unexpectedly slowed in January. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. economic growth slowed much more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2025.