Taiwan: Stocks hit fresh 3-mth low; Hon Hai jumps

[TAIPEI] Taiwan stocks extended losses to hit fresh 3-month lows on Friday, tracking declines in some other regional bourses, with heavyweights such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co trading lower.

As of 0158 GMT, the main TAIEX index fell 0.4 per cent, to 8,072.91, hitting its lowest level since mid-February for more than a week.

The electronics subindex fell 0.5 per cent, while the financials subindex lost 0.4 per cent.

TSMC, the world's top contract chipmkaker, was off 0.7 per cent.

Hon Hai Precision, the world's biggest electronics component maker, however rose 1.4 per cent, after its dividend payment announcement offset a fall in first-quarter profit.

The Taiwan dollar softened T$0.069 to T$32.611 per US dollar.

Asian shares got off on the back foot on Friday, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.3 per cent in early trade, on track for a weekly loss of 0.4 per cent.

REUTERS