Taipei — The Taiwanese equities market suffered an unprecedented blow on Friday as the benchmark TAIEX index nosedived roughly 9%, shedding 3,737.67 points to open at 37,837.05. Marking the steepest single-session point loss in the bourse's history, the massive sell-off was driven by cascading panic from Wall Street, where artificial intelligence and chip-related equities experienced a severe bloodbath.

The ripple effects of overnight drops in U.S. markets—specifically a 10.78% tumble in TSMC's American Depositary Receipts and a 12.25% collapse in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index—immediately gripped Asian trading floors. Market analysts noted that the heavy reliance on AI hardware is making regional tech supply chains uniquely vulnerable to synchronized corrections.

During Friday's session, Taiwan's key index decisively breached the 40,000-point milestone while simultaneously dropping below its crucial one-year moving average of approximately 38,827. In technical analysis, losing this long-term support level is widely viewed by institutional players as a definitive shift in market momentum. Index futures hit their maximum downward threshold right at the opening bell, reflecting intense pre-market anxiety.

Industry heavyweights bore the brunt of the downturn. Foundries and tech giants including TSMC, MediaTek, Delta Electronics, and ASE all plummeted to their daily trading floors, or limit-down statuses. TSMC alone saw roughly 5.7 trillion New Taiwan dollars erased from its market valuation as its shares hit 2,020 New Taiwan dollars. Contract manufacturer Hon Hai also plunged over 9%, dragging the broader electronics sector down with it. Reports indicated that approximately 1,700 listed companies hit their daily downward limits, signaling widespread liquidations across non-tech sectors as well.

The shockwaves were not isolated to Taiwan. Across East Asia, financial markets faced intense pressure; South Korea enacted a trading halt via a circuit breaker, and Japan's Nikkei index drifted deeper into bear market territory. This interconnected sell-off highlights how deeply intertwined regional markets have become through the global semiconductor value chain.

With critical psychological and technical supports shattered, financial experts expect heightened volatility to persist in the near term. Market participants are closely watching whether Wall Street can stage a recovery, if trading restrictions on locked-out Taiwanese tech stocks will ease, and whether broader regional panic will begin to stabilize.

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