The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday announced further curbs on short selling after the TAIEX plunged to its lowest level in nearly two years.
Starting today, the volume of intraday securities lending to short sell a stock is to be lowered to 10 percent of the stock’s average daily trading volume over the previous 30 sessions, down from 20 percent, the FSC said.
In addition, the amount of money an investor must deposit for securities borrowing is to be raised to 120 percent of a stock’s value from 100 percent, effectively increasing the cost of short selling, it said.
Photo: CNA
The TAIEX yesterday tumbled 4.35 percent, or 596.25 points, to 13,106.03 after new curbs by Washington on Chinese access to US technology triggered panic selling in technology shares, especially top chipmakers.
Investors also scrambled to dump large-cap electronics stocks in the wake of heavy losses suffered by the technology sector on Wall Street in the previous two sessions.
Yesterday’s decline was seventh-worst slump in the TAIEX’s history, led by a 8.33 percent drop in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
TSMC closed at NT$401.50 and its losses contributed about 300 points to the TAIEX’s decline.
Turnover totaled NT$217.760 billion (US$6.83 billion) as foreign players cut their holdings in local shares by a net NT$34.28 billion, while proprietary traders slashed positions by NT$5.03 billion.
Deputy Minister of Finance Frank Juan (阮清華), who serves as executive secretary of the National Stabilization Fund, said the local bourse took its cues from Wall Street during the Double Ten National Day holiday.
The TAIEX was the worst performer among regional stock markets, as TSMC has a heavy weighting in the index and a US ban on chip exports to China cast a shadow over TSMC’s profitability, Juan said.
TSMC is to hold an investors’ conference tomorrow.
“The National Stabilization Fund will shore up local shares, and other government agencies would also help if necessary,” Juan said.
The exchange said the rout had much to do with global capital movements responding to monetary tightening and geopolitical conflicts.
While Taiwan is not immune to economic downturns, local firms have remained resilient, it said.
Combined revenue of the nation’s listed firms last month rose 18.2 percent year-on-year, it addeed.
In the first nine months of this year, combined revenue at listed firms increased 12.83 percent year-on-year, which would support GDP growth this year, the exchange said.
However, Cathay Futures Consultant Co (國泰證期顧問) analyst Tsai Ming-han (蔡明翰) said the TAIEX became technically fragile following yesterday’s plunge.
“As rate hike concerns continue, there is no indication where the TAIEX will find the nearest technical support level,” Tsai said. “In particular, inventory adjustments are expected to add to the selling of semiconductor stocks and it is possible TSMC could test NT$400 soon.”
Additional reporting by staff writer and CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS