Taipei, March 7, 2026, 14:46 GMT+8
- The TAIEX in Taiwan wrapped up the week deep in the red, following a dramatic midweek drop and a bounce that set a new record for scale.
- TSMC, the chip giant, along with other tech stocks, shifted as traders tracked Middle East news and offshore risk sentiment.
- Foreign investors turned net sellers toward the end of the week. Shares in old-economy sectors found buyers, picking up momentum from the latest moves in oil prices.
The TAIEX finished Friday at 33,599.54, capping a rough week with a loss of 1,814.95 points. After a sharp selloff midweek—dealers cited forced selling—the rebound proved short-lived. (Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/6315…)
This is significant right now: Taiwan’s market remains heavily weighted toward the chip and AI (artificial intelligence) supply chain, often acting as a kind of leveraged play on global growth, U.S. rates, and shifts in risk sentiment. If those factors swing sharply, Taipei typically overshoots.
Offshore capital keeps steering sentiment when the market sours. Foreign flows, especially in densely populated large-cap tech trades, have a way of transforming a company earnings headline into a broader macro move.
Wednesday saw the week’s most intense losses, with Taiwan’s benchmark tumbling over 4% amid a sharp region-wide retreat. Investors grappled with the prospect of an oil shock as the Middle East conflict spread. “Asia’s selloff is turning disorderly,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore. (Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/asia-s…)
Foreign investors offloaded a net NT$96.47 billion that day, marking the third-biggest single-day net outflow ever, according to exchange data cited by the Taipei Times. Shares in TSMC sank 3.62%, Hon Hai tumbled 5.24%. The Taiwan dollar weakened to a 10-month low, the paper added. (Source: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archi…)
Thursday was a wild session. The TAIEX shot up by 844.06 points, marking its fifth-biggest one-day rise, after news suggesting possible US-Iran talks tempered short-term jitters, according to CNA. Despite the rebound, foreign investors kept dumping shares—net selling reached NT$51.495 billion, the report noted. (Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/business/2026030500…)
Friday saw the market edge down 0.22%, with trading volumes thinning out as participants waited for signals beyond local borders. “Today’s reduced turnover showed that many investors turned calm after recent wild fluctuations,” said Tom Tang, analyst at MasterLink Securities. Foreign institutional investors offloaded a net NT$35.24 billion, exchange data showed. (Source: https://focustaiwan.tw/business/2026030600…)
Tech led the action again. TSMC, holding over 40% of the market’s value, settled at NT$1,890 on Friday. MediaTek closed at NT$1,765, according to CNA. Among AI server plays, Quanta slipped just a bit, Wistron ticked higher.
Old-economy names popped to the front for a stretch, not on earnings, but as traders crunched the numbers on energy. Petrochemical and steel stocks caught a bid—rising crude stirred hopes for better pricing power on their products. Formosa Plastics and China Steel logged gains, according to CNA.
Some names took sharper hits in the chaos. Macronix dropped, Taiwan News reported, after a buyer missed NT$59 million in payments. Risk-off sentiment also weighed on other memory stocks, which lagged.
Regional action was hardly reassuring. Seoul’s KOSPI slid over 11% Wednesday, hitting a circuit breaker that briefly froze trading after the sharp loss. In contrast, Tokyo and Hong Kong managed to recover as the week wore on, traders in Taipei said.
There’s a risk the macro driver sticks around. Oil-driven inflation could force rates to stay elevated, squeezing valuations in tech-heavy sectors. Soft global numbers also threaten to sap demand for cyclicals. Reuters flagged Gulf energy worries plus a U.S. payrolls report that unexpectedly dropped, leaving markets unsettled headed into the weekend. (Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global…)
Dealers in Taipei are watching offshore moves; the next trigger hinges on where U.S. stocks and oil prices land, and if foreign outflows slow heading into mid-March. The TWSE confirmed chairman and CEO Sherman Lin is set to take a team to the U.S. for meetings with both institutional investors and tech companies. (Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/t…)
