Taiwan stocks faced selling pressure again today (29th), after surging 939 points yesterday, opening lower this morning and moving lower, at one point plunging over 760 points intraday. Affected by weaker-than-expected earnings from Google parent Alphabet, raising doubts about AI investment costs and returns, coupled with a sharp rise in margin balances, renewed depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, and weak technicals, the rebound failed to continue. The weighted index opened at 47,014.87 points in the morning, as of the morning at 10:49 a.m., temporarily at 46,303.67 points, down 731.91 points or 1.56%. Excluding TSMC (2330), the decline reached 1.96%, showing selling pressure had spread to other stocks. Asian markets also weakened, with South Korea's KOSPI index turning lower intraday, down 3.17% to 5,821.84 points; Japan's Nikkei 225 narrowed its gains, temporarily at 64,035.39 points, up slightly 0.13%.
Alphabet earnings spark AI spending concerns
According to Alphabet's latest third-quarter earnings, revenue grew 25% year-on-year to US$1,276 hundred million, with core search business revenue of about US$633.5 hundred million, both slightly below expectations. Although Google Cloud revenue surged 103% to about US$307 hundred million, third-quarter free cash flow was negative US$90.7 hundred million, negative for a second consecutive quarter, and with the company guiding for a sharp increase in 2027 capital expenditure, sparking market concerns over AI investment returns and cash flow. After the release, Alphabet shares at one point plunged about 10% in after-hours trading, dragging Nasdaq futures and Asian technology stocks.
Margin balances up 89.13 hundred million, Taiwan dollar falls past 32.5 again
Chipmount conditions also show concerns. According to Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics, margin balances in the centralized market increased by 89.13 hundred million yesterday to 6,323 hundred million, up about 1.43% in a single day; short-sale balances decreased by about 2.47 ten thousand shares to 19.3 ten thousand shares. Yesterday's sharp rebound attracted margin buying, but today's renewed decline has put market focus on short-term leverage unwinding pressure. On the currency side, the New Taiwan dollar had just closed higher for a second straight trading day yesterday, but turned weaker again intraday today. As of the morning at 11 a.m., the US dollar against the New Taiwan dollar was temporarily at 32.517, down 9.9 cents from yesterday's close of 32.418, or about 0.31%, falling past the 32.5 mark again. The central bank recently noted that from October 12 to 16, foreign investors sold a net US$194.02 hundred million in Taiwan stocks and net remitted out US$179.61 hundred million, driving the New Taiwan dollar down 1.37% over the same period, with markets continuing to watch stock-FX linkage pressure.
Analysts focus on 5-day line battle
Senior analyst Wang Ying-liang believes that although Korean stocks plunged intraday, they have not yet broken below the previous low, looking more like a normal pullback after a sharp rally, and investors should not panic excessively over Alphabet's weak earnings, but instead use Taiwan stock volatility to look for stocks with sound fundamentals whose prices have already corrected significantly, seizing the opportunity to "find good stocks, pick up bargains." Senior analyst Zhou Jiahe pointed out that in the short term, besides watching whether the New Taiwan dollar can turn from depreciation to appreciation, attention must also be paid to whether the weighted index can reclaim the 5-day moving average within these two days and hold it at the close. If it can hold steady, it means the weak momentum has a chance to reverse, and oversold quality stocks can be accumulated in batches as appropriate; conversely, if it remains capped by the 5-day line, it shows the market remains in a weak consolidation pattern, and it is better to stay conservative and wait, avoiding entering early to "catch a falling knife."