Taiwan stocks ended 0.87 percent lower on Friday, as investors offloaded tech issues on a darkening outlook after their disappointing February sales results. China's unexpected trade deficit last month also weighed on Taiwan's electronics exporters. Analysts expected the main share index to move between 8,500 and 8,800 next week.
"Contract chipmaker TSMC's shares are falling even after a sales rise last month. The outlook for the industry may be worse than what we have expected," said Andrew Deng, an assistant vice president of Taiwan International Securities Corp. The TAIEX index dropped 75.08 points to 8,567.82, after opening down 0.88 percent. Computer and peripheral shares were the biggest losers, down 2.3 percent. Electronics shares dropped 1.26 percent, with TSMC slipping 0.71 percent. Banking shares fell 0.6 percent.