The TAIEX, Taiwan’s benchmark stock index, tumbled 1,613 points, or 3.6%, to 43,308 on Tuesday, marking a fourth consecutive session of losses and mirroring an overnight selloff on Wall Street amid continued weakness in technology shares. The index fell to its lowest level since July 30, dragged down primarily by electronic technology stocks, which sank 3.9% on mounting concerns over massive capital spending on AI-related infrastructure.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a heavyweight that represents more than 40% of the market’s total capitalization, declined 1.5%. MediaTek and Delta Electronics dropped 7.4% and 6.3%, respectively, while ASE Technology slid 8.6% and Unimicron Technology plunged 9.5%.
The market was further pressured by data released on Monday showing that the pace of factory activity growth in Taiwan eased in October from a more than five-year high recorded in September. Even so, declining oil prices helped cap steeper losses by tempering inflation worries and dampening expectations for further interest rate hikes.
