The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday announced a short-selling ban on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange (TPEX), starting today, as it attempts to curb speculative trading amid “irrational declines on the stock market.”
Unlike previous bans imposed in 1998, 2008 and 2015, which applied to all stocks, this ban applies only to stocks that showed a decline of 3.5 percent or more a day earlier, Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director Sam Chang (張振山) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The TAIEX fell 5.83 percent and the TPEX dropped 7.53 percent yesterday, and 1,233 stocks on the two boards reported declines of more than 3.5 percent, the commission’s data showed.
Photo: CNA
Tech heavyweights Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) fell 3.69 percent and 9.72 percent respectively.
Short selling is when investors borrow securities, typically from brokerages, and then sell them, expecting the price will fall, to make a profit by buying them back later for less money.
“A short-selling ban can prevent speculators from betting against financial stocks, but it may also create more fear among ordinary investors. It is difficult to foresee if the measures would help,” an analyst told the Taipei Times by telephone on the condition of anonymity.
Short selling for the 1,233 stocks would be banned today, Chang said, adding that the number of stocks subject to the new measure would vary daily.
The ban would persist for stocks that continue to fall by 3.5 percent or more, he added.
“We want to curb volatility in the local markets amid a sell-off prompted by the fear of COVID-19, allowing respite for battered equities,” Chang said. “The local market appeared irrational, but not that crazy as it was in the [2008] financial crisis.”
Given that turnover on the main board stood at NT$269.74 billion yesterday, higher than the daily average of NT$146 billion last month, it indicated that many investors still had confidence in the local market, he said.
“Average daily turnover was less than NT$50 billion during the worst period in 2008. So the situation is much better now,” Chang said.
The FSC did not say how long the short-selling ban would last, saying that it would review the ban based on the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
RSS