Taiwan shares ended 0.49 percent lower on Friday, led by financial firms such as Cathay, as a lacklustre US stock market renewed concerns that the subprime crisis could spark a recession. The main TAIEX share index closed down 42.75 points at 8,690.09. It ended the week about 7 percent higher in a rebound from a global sell-off sparked by fears about the US credit market.
The main index has fallen 11 percent from a more than 7-year closing high hit on July 24. The banking and insurance sub-index sank 1.76 percent, pulled by Cathay and Shin Kong, parents of Taiwan's top two life insurers. The electronics sub-index was off 0.35 percent as heavyweight TSMC fell 1.91 percent.
Shares worth T$131.7 billion (US $4.0 billion) changed hands, compared with T$155.0 billion a day ago. Cathay Financial fell 1.97 percent and Shin Kong was 2 percent lower. Cathay were due to meet analysts later in the day to discuss the company's second-quarter results and possibly its outlook for the rest of the year.
Qisda, previously known as BenQ, climbed 2.52 percent after the company said it returned to profitability in the second quarter. Quanta Computer, the world's largest contract laptop PC maker, finished 4.34 percent higher. Quanta said on Friday that its chief executive had tendered his resignation.
Wafer Works, a maker of silicon wafers used in solar cells, rose 1.19 percent. Japan's Sumitomo is investing 300 million yen ($2.58 million) for a 3 percent stake in Wafer Works' mainland China Solargiga unit, the Commercial Times reported. Yuanta Financial Holding slid 3.12 percent after a local newspaper reported that Taiwan's biggest opposition party, the Kuomintang, was looking to sell its stake in Yuanta and did not rule out giving up its seat on the board.