Taiwan stocks retreat

Taiwan stocks crossed the key 10,000 level for a third time this week before reversing course to trade marginally lower, with the semiconductor sector leading the decline. The main TAIEX index was down 0.13 percent at 9,988.41 as of 0308 GMT on Friday, after rising as high as 10,008.25 earlier in the session. It touched the 10,000 intraday level for the first time in two years on Tuesday, before settling at that level on Thursday which was the first time in 17 years.
The semiconductor subindex was down 0.68 percent on Friday, while the electronics subindex was 0.21 percent lower. The financial subindex slid 0.18 percent. The Taiwan dollar firmed T$0.022 to stand at T$30.193 to the US dollar.