The TAIEX, Taiwan’s benchmark stock index, dropped 635 points, or 1.5%, to 42,314 in Thursday morning trading, extending its losing streak to a sixth straight session, led primarily by weakness in electronic technology shares. The index hovered at its lowest level since July 30, with the electronic technology sector sliding 2.9% amid concerns over surging capital expenditure on AI infrastructure. Investors were also positioning ahead of the release of October inflation data, scheduled for after the market close.
Still, easing oil prices helped contain the downturn by tempering inflation worries and reducing expectations of further interest rate hikes. A positive session on Wall Street overnight, following the Democrats’ return to control of Congress, also helped prevent steeper losses.
Major blue chips mostly retreated, with MediaTek down 3.8%, Delta Electronics off 5.7%, and ASE Technology losing 6.5%. In contrast, TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a bellwether that accounts for more than 40% of the market’s total capitalization, inched up 0.2%.
