Taiex Plunges as US Treasury Yields and Oil Prices Soar
Taiwan's Taiex benchmark index fell by 392.64 points on Tuesday, closing at 47,631.96 after a day of trading.
The decline was largely due to rising US Treasury yields and international crude oil prices, which increased the likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in October to around 70 percent, according to Moore Securities Investment Consulting analyst Adam Lin.
Interest-rate sensitive tech stocks were particularly hard hit, with the bellwether electronics index falling by 1.02 percent and driving down the Taiex.
Major semiconductor stocks such as MediaTek Inc., Alchip Technologies Ltd., and ASE Technology Holding Co. all saw significant declines, but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) managed to remain unchanged at NT$2,475.00 after its American depositary receipts rose by 0.50 percent overnight.
The petrochemical index, however, bucked the trend with a gain of 1.97 percent, driven in part by rising crude oil prices.