The government is encouraging insurance companies, which have a total NT$8 trillion ($263 billion) in assets, to buy local shares as part of measures to help support the market.
It is also asking board members of listed companies to increase their holdings in those firms, the Cabinet said in an e-mailed statement today.
FIVE-MONTH LOW
The benchmark TAIEX index has fallen for a third consecutive week to a five-month low.
The measure has slumped 19 percent since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office on May 20. By comparison, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 11 percent during the same period.
Separately, the government asked four government funds to continue buying local stocks, encouraged insurers to buy either indices linked to Taiwanese equities or exchange-traded funds (ETF) and asked insurance funds to buy local shares and hold them for long-term investment, the statement said.
SUPPORT MEASURES
Other government support measures include studying the feasibility of allowing government-owned Taiwan Financial Holdings Co (台灣金控) to develop its own properties, encouraging listed companies to buy back their own shares and holding investor conferences to increase confidence, the statement said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
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