Stock trading accounts hit new high despite U.S. tariff concerns

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) The number of accounts created to trade on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) hit a new high in June, even if market sentiment was affected by the Trump administration's tariff polices, according to data released by the TWSE on Wednesday.

There were 13.48 million trading accounts opened as of the end of June, up about 32,000 from the end of May, and also up 264,000 from the end of 2024, indicating a stable increase in the number of accounts, TWSE data showed.

Taiwan's stock market took a major hit in April, which could have left potential new investors inclined to stay away from the market.

On April 7, the Taiex, the TWSE's weighted index, posted its steepest single-day decline in history, falling 9.7 percent to close at 19,232.35 after U.S. Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on April 2, including a 32 percent across-the-board duty against Taiwan.

The depth of the plunge reflected the fact that Taiwan's market had been closed April 3-6 for the Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend.

The Taiex continued to trend lower, falling an additional 5.79 percent on April 9 after a brief technical rebound on April 8.

At that point, however, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the draconian tariffs on April 9 U.S. time, helping global financial markets stabilize.

But the local stock market remained jittery due to Trump's threats to impose tariffs on semiconductors, the backbone of Taiwan's exports, and the rapid appreciation of the Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar, meaning foreign exchange losses for Taiwanese exporters.

In the first half of 2025, the Taiex fell 779.08 points, or 3.38 percent after soaring 28.47 percent last year.

The number of stock trading accounts rose, however, with accounts opened by those aged 61 or older recording the highest growth of 225,375 in the first six months of 2025, the data showed.

That age group held about 4.03 million stock trading accounts as of the end of June, accounting for 29.92 percent of the total, the most of any age group, the data showed.

As of the end of June, investors aged 19 and under had 592,232 accounts, or 4.44 percent of the total, those aged 20-30 had 1.68 million accounts, or 12.49 percent of the total, and those aged 31-40 had 2.19 million accounts. or 16.28 percent of the total.

Those in the 41-50 age group had 2.58 million accounts, or 19.15 percent of the total, while those aged 51-60 had 2.32 million accounts, or 17.23 percent of the total.