Taiwan equities took their cue from a rough US tech session and sold off broadly on Friday. The TAIEX fell 755.64 points, or 1.61%, to close at 46,184.85, after tumbling nearly 1,000 points intraday and briefly breaking below the 46,000 mark before stabilizing above the monthly moving average into the 13:30 close. Turnover was heavy at NT$721.9 billion. The catalysts were external: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 2.66% overnight, US August producer prices rose a hotter-than-expected 5.4% year-over-year, and Brent crude pushed above $100 a barrel — a combination that put risk appetite on hold ahead of the upcoming US CPI release.
Tech bellwethers fall despite record revenue
The striking feature of the session was that fundamentals were ignored. TSMC, MediaTek and Hon Hai all reported strong August revenue this week — record monthly figures in the case of TSMC and MediaTek — and all three closed lower anyway.
| Stock | Close (NT$) | Change | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| TSMC (2330) | 2,410.00 | -1.63% | Record August revenue |
| MediaTek (2454) | 4,585.00 | -2.86% | Record August revenue of NT$64.18B |
| Hon Hai (2317) | 248.00 | -1.20% | August revenue NT$921.76B |
| UMC (2303) | 140.50 | -1.40% | |
| Delta Electronics (2308) | 1,620.00 | -3.28% | Among the weakest large caps |
Losses were deepest in sports and leisure — bicycle makers Giant and Merida traded near limit-down — along with green energy, printed circuit boards and passive components. The counter-trend money was easy to spot: container shipping carriers Evergreen, Yang Ming and Wan Hai all gained, lifting the shipping sector index 1.04%, and financials rose 1.12% in a classic defensive rotation. A handful of IT-services and optoelectronics names finished limit-up.
Institutional flows: foreigners sell NT$89.3 billion
The flow picture was unambiguous. At Friday’s close, official TWSE data showed:
- Foreign investors: net SELL NT$89.27 billion — the dominant force behind the decline
- Proprietary dealers: net SELL NT$30.20 billion, of which NT$25.16 billion was hedging-related
- Investment trusts: net BUY NT$7.10 billion — domestic funds again the only buyers
- Three institutions combined: net SELL NT$112.37 billion
The equity outflow spilled into the currency. The Taiwan dollar weakened roughly half a percent against the greenback, touching an intraday low of 31.689 before the USD/TWD rate settled at 31.62.
Leverage and short channels (Thursday’s data)
Taiwan’s leverage and short data publish with a one-day lag, so the latest figures describe Thursday’s positioning — the setup coming into today’s fall, not the reaction to it. Market-wide margin purchase balances (retail leveraged longs) rose NT$4.73 billion to NT$591.9 billion, meaning retail traders were adding leveraged long exposure just before the drop. On the institutional short side, SBL (securities lending) balances rose in 551 shortable issues versus declines in 301 — a broadening of institutional short positioning that now looks well timed.
The single-stock detail was mixed rather than uniformly bearish: SBL short balances rose in TSMC (+197,000 shares) and Delta (+809,000 shares), but institutions actually covered in Hon Hai (-1.83 million shares), UMC (-444,000) and MediaTek (-218,000). Retail margin longs edged up in TSMC, UMC and Hon Hai. Worth remembering: margin purchases, retail margin shorts and SBL balances are three distinct channels — none is a generic short-interest number.
The ADR gap compressed
TSMC’s US-listed ADR closed Thursday at $428.03, which works out to a 12.3% premium over Friday’s Taipei close. The premium itself is structural — it has run roughly 15-25% in recent years given limited fungibility — and the two closes come from different sessions, with Taipei’s 1.6% drop occurring after the ADR last traded. Still, a measured gap below the recent structural range suggests the premium has been compressing, and how the ADR trades in tonight’s US session — against a modestly constructive backdrop, with S&P 500 futures up 0.43% during Asian hours — will show whether that compression extends or snaps back.
What to watch
- US CPI — the hot 5.4% PPI print set today’s tone; the consumer inflation report is the next domino for Fed expectations and for whether foreign selling of Taiwan tech persists.
- TAIFEX final settlement, Wednesday September 16 — the monthly TX futures and options settlement can amplify index swings early next week, especially after a session that broke and reclaimed a round-number level.
- CBC quarterly board meeting, expected Thursday September 17 — with USD/TWD at 31.62 and foreign outflows pressuring the currency, the central bank’s read on the exchange rate will matter for the flow picture.
Disclaimer: This is an information and analysis publication, not investment advice. See our Methodology for data sources, standards, and our corrections policy.