Taiwan Stocks Plunge Over 1,000 Points in Early Trading as TSMC Drops NT$50

Central News Agency (Reporter: Chung Jung-feng, Taipei, 18th) — With unabated conflict between the United States and Iran and rising international oil prices, Japanese and South Korean stock markets continued their decline at today's opening. The Taiwan stock market pulled back at the open, breaking the 41,000-point integer level to a low of 40,170.17, a drop of 1,002.19 points, testing the 40,000-point mark and the monthly moving average support. Leading heavyweight stock TSMC fell in early trading to a low of NT$2,215, down NT$50, a decline of 2.21%. Other major electronics stocks such as Delta Electronics and MediaTek fell 3% in early trading, ASE Technology Holding dropped over 6%, and Hon Hai (Foxconn) fell over 2%. Memory chip stocks including Nanya Technology, Winbond, and Macronix all fell by more than 5%. Securities analysts noted that Taiwan's stock technical indicators turned from positive to negative, with the market pulling back for consolidation. Attention is first on the 40,000-point level and the monthly moving average support at 40,045 points, while also monitoring foreign institutional investors' positioning in the futures and spot markets and trends in U.S. Treasury yields. (Editor: Chang Liang-chih) 1150518