Taiwan: Stocks down near 3-month lows on overseas market weakness

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Friday and were trading near three-month lows on weakness in overseas markets.

Asian shares were soft as investors braced for the US April payrolls report after jobless claims data out earlier raised doubts over the seemingly rosy employment picture.

As of 0340 GMT, the main TAIEX index was down 0.4 per cent to 8,133.56 points. It closed down by 0.2 per cent in the previous session in a six-session losing streak to a low not seen since mid-February.

The electronics subindex sank 0.4 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 1.3 per cent.

Taiwan's economic outlook is cloudy as it readies to issue April exports data on Monday, which is expected to show a 15th straight month of contraction, a Reuters poll found.

The Taiwan dollar softened T$0.017 to T$32.394 per US dollar.

REUTERS