Taiwan stocks were slightly down on Friday, bucking the trend in Asian shares due to selling in financial shares. Trading was cautious as some analysts said the recent rise in bond yields abroad could erode overseas investments by domestic financial institutions. The main TAIEX index was lower 0.3 percent at 9,581.79 as of 0219 GMT, after closing down 1.2 percent on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the Taiwan government sold 30-year government bonds at a yield of 2.438 percent, above a Reuters poll for a yield of between 2.35 percent and 2.39 percent, due in part to higher overseas fixed income yields. The financial subindex was down 0.5 percent, while the electronics subindex was lower 0.1 percent. CTBC Financial dropped 0.2 percent, while China Development Financial fell 1.7 percent. The Taiwan dollar was up T$0.164 at T$30.517 to the US dollar.