TAIPEI: Taiwan shares took a beating on Friday morning, with investors stunned by an overnight dive on Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his administration will impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, dealers said.
Large cap stocks, in particular, were in focus amid selling on the local main board, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), pushing down the broader market by more than 100 points at one point, they said.
As of 11:32 a.m., the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange had fallen 98.16 points, or 0.91 percent, to 10,687.63 on turnover of NT$71.57 billion (US$1.42 billion).
The main board opened down 66.5 points and selling escalated after investors saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed about 480 points overnight amid fears of a global trade war if the Trump Administration implements tariffs on imported steel and aluminum next week as scheduled, dealers said.
“The move to impose such tariffs has prompted investors at home and abroad to think a global trade war is imminent, which could stifle global economic development,” MasterLink Securities analyst Tom Tang said, referring to possible countermeasures from Washington’s trading partners, in particular Beijing.
