Local shares on Friday ended lower after a plunge on Wall Street overnight, but still remained above the market’s six-month moving average.
The TAIEX on Friday opened at 10,901.25, hitting a high of 10,914.83 and a low of 10,828.86 before closing down 41.79 points, or 0.38 percent, at 10,899.28, falling 1.7 percent from 11,087.47 on June 15.
Losers outnumbered gainers 566 to 240, while 114 stocks remained unchanged.
Affected by a 0.8 percent slide in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday, the weighted index sank as low as 10,828.86 — the lowest the market has been this month — at one point during the session.
However, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the second half of the session, buying in old economy shares also emerged, helping push the TAIEX above the six-month moving average of 10,880 by the end of the session.
TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, gained 0.44 percent to close at NT$227.5.
Although the TAIEX ended above 10,880 points, analysts said it could fall further if the market does not stage a noticeable rebound in the near term.
As the market has tumbled nearly 4 percent to hover between 10,880 and 11,000 points, analysts said investors should pay attention to the movement of the New Taiwan dollar and whether investment trust companies remain net sellers before they settle their accounts for the month.
TRADE WAR WOES
Elsewhere in Asia on Friday, stocks were mixed, with a benchmark index posting its biggest weekly decline since late March on concerns over the outlook for global trade.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.1 percent this week, the most since the week ended March 23.
Japan’s TOPIX on Friday slid 5.8 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,744.83, dropping 2.5 percent from 1,789.04 on June 15.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng on Friday rallied late to rise 42.65, or 0.2 percent, to close at 29,338.70, but fell 3.2 percent from 30,309.49 a week earlier.
The Shanghai Composite on Friday gained 13.95 points, or 0.5 percent, at 2,889.76, but plunged 4.4 percent from a close of 3,021.90 on Friday last week.
Philippine equities fell for a seventh day, driving the nation’s benchmark equities index deeper into a bear market.
“The sentiment on Asian markets has been badly hit by the escalating trade rhetoric between the US and its trading partners,” PT Sinarmas Sekuritas head of investment strategy Jeffrosenberg Tan said.
“Medium term, MSCI Asia Pacific will face huge challenges as euphoria over synchronized global growth has effectively been replaced by the doom of synchronized global tightening, rising protectionism and greater future supply of US Treasuries,” he said.
The escalation of trade tensions between the US and China is threatening global economic growth just as the US Federal Reserve signaled a faster pace of policy tightening.
While many are hoping for a truce before Chinese goods get hit with tariffs, US President Donald Trump has shown no sign of backing down.
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