Taiwan market plunges over 2,000 points at open, falls below 20,000

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) A wave of stop-loss selling and panic selling hit Taiwan's stock market at its opening on Monday, with the weighted index plunging 2,086 points -- a drop of more than 9.7 percent -- marking the largest intraday point and percentage loss on record.

The index bottomed out at 19,212.02, while futures were locked limit-down, with over 1,000 stocks hitting their daily drop limit.

Three heavyweight stocks -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Hon Hai (Foxconn) and MediaTek -- hit their limit-down prices as soon as the market opened, falling to NT$848, NT$138.5 and NT$1,295 respectively.

TSMC's losses on Monday mean that the microchip manufacturing company's share value has dropped NT$312 (26.9 percent) since its all-time high of NT$1,160 on Jan. 7 this year -- representing a total loss of NT$8.1 trillion (US$243.59 billion).

Meanwhile, the AI sector suffered significant losses, with key stocks Quanta and Wistron also hitting their limit-downs at NT$210 and NT$90.9.

Following Taiwan's four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday, the local stock market's opening on Monday was the first trading in Taiwan since U.S. President Donald Trump announced "reciprocal" tariffs against the United States' global trading partners.

Update

► Taiwan shares suffer steepest daily decline amid Trump tariff scare

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