Opened Lower and Broke Below Half-Year Line
Taiwan stocks saw selling pressure across the board on the 30th. The weighted index opened at 46139.79 points, down 288.54 points at the open, which was the high of the day. It then trended lower throughout the session, at one point plunging 1642 points to an intraday low of 44726.26 points, with a high-low spread of 1413.53 points. Losses narrowed slightly into the close, but the index still plunged 1156.5 points, or 2.49%, to close at 45211.83 points, back above 45000 points but still below the half-year line, with turnover of about 8792.57 hundred million NT dollars.
Over 1600 Decliners as Heavyweights Weaken
Gainers were few and losers many. Only 222 stocks rose, while 1647 fell, with 18 limit-up and 18 limit-down stocks each, showing selling pressure was not concentrated only in large-cap heavyweights, as small and mid-cap stocks also faced pressure. Heavyweights generally weakened. TSMC closed at 2370 NT dollars, down 45 NT dollars or 1.86%, with single-day turnover of 701.81 hundred million NT dollars, the highest in the market; MediaTek closed at 3915 NT dollars, down 3.21%; Delta Electronics fell 9.8% to close at the limit-down price of 1335 NT dollars.
Electronics and Memory Stocks Under Pressure
Among other electronics stocks, UMC closed at 111.5 NT dollars, down 3.46%; Yageo* fell 7.55% to close at 502 NT dollars; Elite Material fell 6.69% to close at 4675 NT dollars; Unimicron fell 4.9% to close at 989 NT dollars. Memory stocks were also under pressure, with Nanya Technology closing at 454.5 NT dollars, down 4.72%. In terms of volume, Active CTBC Taiwan Income led with about 128.7 ten-thousand lots, Capital Taiwan Weighted 2x Leveraged traded about 66.5 ten-thousand lots, and Yuanta Taiwan 50 2x Leveraged traded about 39.9 ten-thousand lots, showing leveraged and active ETFs remained heavily traded amid market volatility.
Foreign Investors Sell for 2 Consecutive Sessions, Add to Futures Shorts
In terms of institutional flows, foreign and mainland investors sold a net 1124.67 hundred million NT dollars, selling for 2 consecutive trading days, the seventh-largest single-day foreign net sale in Taiwan stock history and the main source of market selling pressure; proprietary dealers sold a net 38.4 hundred million NT dollars in proprietary trading and a net 475.3 hundred million NT dollars in hedging operations, for combined net sales of 513.7 hundred million NT dollars. Foreign investors not only withdrew heavily from the spot market but also continued adding to shorts in the futures market. Net short positions in TAIEX futures increased by 2719 contracts to 92241 contracts, bearish in both spot and futures. In contrast, investment trusts continued buying, making net purchases of 239.93 hundred million NT dollars against the trend, marking 14 consecutive net-buy sessions, but buying strength still could not offset the heavy selling from foreign investors and proprietary dealers. The three major institutional investors together sold a net 1398.44 hundred million NT dollars.
Roller-Coaster Week, Focus on Stabilization Signals
Taiwan stocks went through a roller-coaster week, surging 939.35 points on the 28th, falling 667.25 points on the 29th, and plunging over 1000 points today, losing not only the half-year line but also briefly breaking below the 45000-point mark. With continued foreign spot selling and futures short positions exceeding 92000 contracts, whether the market can stop falling and stabilize next week will depend on whether foreign selling pressure eases and whether large heavyweights such as TSMC can stabilize first.