The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs.
The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis.
The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s stock trading market,” it said.
Photo: CNA
After falling 9.7 percent on Monday, the TAIEX closed down 772.40 points, or 4.02 percent, at 18,459.95 yesterday, hitting its lowest level in 14 months.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the TAIEX, fell 3.77 percent to close at NT$816, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), second to TSMC in terms of market value, fell by the daily maximum for a second day to close at NT$125.
The “international panic atmosphere remains strong,” and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the ministry said.
“This is not conducive to the stability of the Taiwanese shares,” it said.
While the downturn in the TAIEX was capped as some investors appeared willing to buy the dip and turnover on the main board increased to NT$548.951 billion, yesterday’s loss was the eighth-largest daily decline in history, Taiwan Stock Exchange’s data showed.
“Judging from today’s movement, I think some bargain hunters jumped into the trading floor after yesterday’s plunge as the US markets showed signs of stabilizing,” Moore Securities Investment Consulting Co (摩爾投顧) analyst Adam Lin (林漢偉) said.
Lin was referring to the 0.10 percent rebound on after a fall of 5.82 percent on Friday, and a 0.91 percent drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, compared with a 5.05 percent plunge a session earlier. That helped major stock markets elsewhere and oil prices recover slightly yesterday after a huge sell-off the previous day.
Tokyo’s stock market closed up more than 6 percent after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held talks with Trump, while Hong Kong’s stock market closed up by more than 1 percent, having plunged more than 13 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day retreat since 1997.
Trading in Jakarta was briefly suspended after it plunged more than 9 percent in exaggerated moves following a long holiday weekend in Indonesia. At the close, the market fell 7.9 percent to its lowest level since June 2021.
Shanghai advanced 1.6 percent, Sydney and Mumbai added more than 2 percent, while Manila gained 3 percent. Seoul and Wellington also edged up. Europe’s main indices were up by an average of about 1.5 percent approaching the half-way stage.
SELL-OFF: Investors expect tariff-driven volatility as the local boarse reopens today, while analysts say government support and solid fundamentals would steady sentiment Local investors are bracing for a sharp market downturn today as the nation’s financial markets resume trading following a two-day closure for national holidays before the weekend, with sentiment rattled by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement. Trump’s unveiling of new “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday triggered a sell-off in global markets, with the FTSE Taiwan Index Futures — a benchmark for Taiwanese equities traded in Singapore — tumbling 9.2 percent over the past two sessions. Meanwhile, the American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the TAIEX, plunged 13.8 percent in
A wave of stop-loss selling and panic selling hit Taiwan's stock market at its opening today, with the weighted index plunging 2,086 points — a drop of more than 9.7 percent — marking the largest intraday point and percentage loss on record. The index bottomed out at 19,212.02, while futures were locked limit-down, with more than 1,000 stocks hitting their daily drop limit. Three heavyweight stocks — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn, 鴻海精密) and MediaTek (聯發科) — hit their limit-down prices as soon as the market opened, falling to NT$848 (US$25.54), NT$138.5 and NT$1,295 respectively. TSMC's
TARIFFS: The global ‘panic atmosphere remains strong,’ and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the Ministry of Finance said The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis. The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s
STEEP DECLINE: Yesterday’s drop was the third-steepest in its history, the steepest being Monday’s drop in the wake of the tariff announcement on Wednesday last week Taiwanese stocks continued their heavy sell-off yesterday, as concerns over US tariffs and unwinding of leveraged bets weighed on the market. The benchmark TAIEX plunged 1,068.19 points, or 5.79 percent, to 17,391.76, notching the biggest drop among Asian peers as it hit a 15-month low. The decline came even after the government on late Tuesday authorized the NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion) National Stabilization Fund (國安基金) to step in to buoy the market amid investors’ worries over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Yesterday’s decline was the third-steepest in its history, trailing only the declines of 2,065.87 points on Monday and
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