The Taiwan stock market picked up just a handful of points on Friday - but that was enough to extend the market's winning streak to three sessions, collecting more than 110 points or 1.3 percent in that span to touch a fresh 16-month closing high. The Taiwan Stock Exchange finished just above the 7,715-point plateau, although now analysts are predicting a modest withdrawal at the opening of trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests weakness, thanks to disappointing economic and earnings news out of the United States. Technology and financial stocks are expected to be under pressure, although strength among the commodities - especially oil - may provide some support. The European and U.S. markets finished modestly lower on Friday, and the Asian markets are forecast to follow that lead.
The TSE finished slightly higher on Friday, thanks to gains among the paper, financial, construction and cement stocks - although selling among the plastics and technology sectors cut into the overall gains.
For the day, the index was up 4.70 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 7,715.10 after trading between 7,738.04 and 7,691.39. Volume was 4.21 billion shares worth 117.94 billion Taiwan dollars. There were 1,309 decliners and 1,203 gainers, with 269 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the gainers, Chinatrust Financial jumped 3.21 percent, while Cathay Financial added 2.82 percent, Fubon Financial was up 0.26 percent, Farglory Land Development gained 2.60 percent, Cathay Real Estate put on 1.05 percent, Kuo Yang Construction gained 0.79 percent, Mediatek was up 3 percent and HTC Corp added 2.31 percent.
Finishing lower, AU Optronics shed 2.41 percent, while Chi Mei eased 0.58 percent, TSMC dropped 2.98 percent, Hon Hai lost 0.76 percent, Powerchip declined 4.35 percent and ProMOS plunged 6.84 percent.
Wall Street puts forth a firmly negative lead as stocks fell by notable margins on Friday, with a worse than expected report on consumer sentiment and disheartening earnings data contributing to the weakness. The major averages all closed on the downside, offsetting some of the strong gains posted earlier in the week.
Risk appetite took a hit after the release of the latest reading on consumer attitudes in the month of October from Reuters and the University of Michigan, with the data showing the consumer sentiment index fell to 69.4 in October from the final September reading of 73.5. Economists had been expecting a much more modest decrease to a reading of 73.3.
The pullback also came as traders digested results from Bank of America (BAC) that fell well short of expectations, while General Electric (GE) also disappointed, reporting revenues that failed to meet forecasts.
Nonetheless, upbeat earnings results from Google (GOOG) and better than expected industrial production data from the Federal Reserve helped to moderate the day's losses.
The major averages all ended the day firmly in negative territory, although well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow closed down by 67.03 points or 0.7 percent at 9,995.91, the NASDAQ fell by 16.49 points or 0.8 percent to 2,156.80 and the S&P 500 finished down by 8.88 points or 0.8 percent at 1,087.68.
Despite the losses posted on the day, the major averages all managed to close higher for the second consecutive week. The Dow and the S&P 500 posted weekly gains of 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, while the NASDAQ showed a more modest 0.8 percent advance for the week.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.