Taiwan: Stocks down on poor GDP growth reading

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks fell on Friday after the government gave a dismal early reading of second-quarter GDP growth, sharply lower than forecast.

Officials said Friday morning that the island's GDP grew only 0.64 per cent in the second quarter, far below expectations of a 2.67 per cent boost.

As of 0151 GMT, the main TAIEX index fell 0.6 per cent, to 8,600.38, below other regional bourses, after closing at 8,651.49 in the previous session, up 1 percent.

The electronics subindex sank 0.3 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.9 per cent.

Oil, gas and electric shares dropped 1.52 per cent, while glass and ceramics shed 1.2 per cent.

The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.052 to T$31.549 per US dollar.

REUTERS