Taiwan Stock Market Suffers Historic Plunge, Triggering Panic Selling

A massive sell-off sees the TAIEX plummet, with key tech stocks leading the decline.

Taipei, April 7 - The Taiwan stock market experienced a brutal opening on Monday, fueled by a wave of stop-loss and panic selling, resulting in a historic intraday collapse. The weighted index (TAIEX) plummeted 2,086 points, exceeding a 9.7 percent drop, setting a new record for both point and percentage losses within a single trading session.

The index reached a low of 19,212.02. Futures trading was locked limit-down, and an excess of 1,000 stocks immediately hit their daily drop limit, a clear indicator of the widespread fear gripping the market.

Three of Taiwan's most influential stocks – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Hon Hai (Foxconn), and MediaTek – all reached their limit-down prices as soon as trading commenced. Their prices fell to NT$848, NT$138.5, and NT$1,295, respectively, reflecting the severity of the sell-off.

TSMC's losses on Monday highlighted the deep impact. The microchip manufacturing giant's share value has declined by NT$312 (26.9 percent) since reaching an all-time high of NT$1,160 on January 7th of this year. This translates to a staggering total loss of NT$8.1 trillion (US$243.59 billion).

The artificial intelligence (AI) sector was also significantly impacted. Key stocks such as Quanta and Wistron experienced limit-down drops, closing at NT$210 and NT$90.9 respectively.

The market's dramatic opening followed Taiwan's four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday and coincided with the first trading day since U.S. President Donald Trump announced "reciprocal" tariffs against the United States' global trading partners, adding further uncertainty to the already volatile market.