The Taiwan stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 350 points or 3.4 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just above the 10,320-point plateau and it's expected to open lower again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly sort thanks to continued chaos in Washington D.C. although crude oil prices offer support. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and the technology stocks.
For the day, the index lost 48.04 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 10,321.33 after trading between 10,259.83 and 10,330.39 on turnover of 88.088 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shed 0.71 percent, while Catcher Technology dropped 1.72 percent, Hon Hai Precision lost 0.43 percent, AU Optronics skidded 1.26 percent, Largan Precision added 0.18 percent, Asustek Computer advanced 0.82 percent, Cathay Financial tumbled 1.54 percent, Mega Financial fell 0.42 percent and Fubon Financial slid 0.63 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks showed a lack of direction on Friday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending in the red.
The Dow dropped 76.22 points or 0.4 percent to 21,674.51, while the NASDAQ shed 5.39 points or 0.1 percent to 6,216.53 and the S&P dipped 4.46 points or 0.2 percent to 2,425.55. For the week, the Dow slid 0.8 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both fell 0.6 percent.
The choppy trading came as traders expressed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after recent volatility. Concerns about President Donald Trump's ability to implement his agenda continued to weigh.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in August.
Crude oil futures spiked on Friday after industry data showed the U.S. rig count fell last week. September WTI oil rallied $1.42 or 3 percent to $48.51/bbl for the session, but eased 0.6% for the week.
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