Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain.
The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung.
Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as well as suspended the financial markets for two days as Typhoon Gaemi brought strong winds and heavy rain.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Taiwan Stock Exchange is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and traders are keenly watching for any possible disruption from the typhoon.
TSMC has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its fabs and construction sites in the island, according to an emailed statement from the company. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it doesn’t expect a significant impact on operations.
Taiwan’s market suspension comes after volatile trading in recent days. The benchmark TAIEX fell 2.6 percent on Monday, its biggest drop in more than three weeks, before a rebound yesterday amid a technical rebound by large-cap tech stocks, TSMC in particular.
The TAIEX ended up 165.85 points, or 0.75 percent, at 22,390.39. Turnover totaled NT$279.37 billion (US$8.77 billion), exchange data showed.
After falling 4.30 percent on Monday, TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, rose 1.57 percent to close at NT$972.
Bucking the uptrend, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), second to TSMC in terms of market value, lost 0.27 percent to close at NT$187.
Additional reporting by CNA
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