TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan stocks jumped on Tuesday following a record plunge a day earlier, but shed some of the gains later in the morning amid lingering concerns over the outlook for the U.S. economy and tech companies. The main index jumped more than 4% in early trade to as high as 20,640.44 points, but quickly pared those gains to be up around 1.75% at 0230.
Shares in the dominant technology stock TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, climbed 5.6% after jumping more than 6% in early trade. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a supplier to Nvidia.
“Investors are mostly concerned about the U.S. economy and the rapid rise of the yen. So yesterday’s plunge was inevitable,” said Jeff Chang, chairman of Cathay Securities Investment Trust, which oversees more than T$1 trillion ($30.3 billion) in client assets.
“We think the Taiwan main index has dropped to a level with strong technical support. But we can expect to see consolidation for a while,” he said.
“Looking at fundamentals of the AI industry, nothing has changed compared to a month ago. It’s a good buying opportunity for AI shares, both now and when they dip in the future,” Chang said.
Other major-weighted tech stocks also rebounded. Mediatek was up 7.5% while Quanta rose 2.1%.
Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters on Tuesday the fundamentals of Taiwan’s economy were “very solid”, adding authorities will close monitor the situation.
Global markets rumbled on Monday amid fears the United States could be heading for recession and as investors sought refuge from riskier assets.
Taiwan Stock Exchange President Lih-Chung Chien has said the bourse would work with regulators to maintain stability when needed.
(Reporting by Faith Hung and Yimou Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, James Pomfret, Sonali Paul anad Kim Coghill)
